Up for the Challenge
Runners and cyclists competed in the inaugural Deloitte Challenge marathon.
More than 4000 runners and cyclists took part in the inaugural Deloitte Challenge race from Ballito to King’s Park on Friday, May 1.
For the marathon runners, this was the last chance to qualify for the Comrades and with the cut-off time at five hours, it was an emotional finish for those who still wanted to enter the world’s toughest ultra-marathon.
The event is unique in the province with cyclists and runners sharing the same route and enjoying the full closure of the M4.
The cyclists left Ballito first and raced 40 km down the M4 to Durban, followed shortly by over 2000 marathon runners starting across from the Lifestyle Shopping Centre and 1 500 half marathon runners starting from Sibaya Casino.
The marathon was won by Shingirai Badza, a previous Indian Ocean Marathon winner, in a time of 2:28:47 and the first woman home was Nonsikelelo Mbambo in a time of 3:06:22. Both walk away with R10 000 as well as a Comrades qualifier under their belts.
The half marathon was won by Bonginkosi Zwane in an extremely fast finishing time of 1:05:29.
The women’s race was won by Kate Mcdade in a time of 1:20:10.
The Tongaat Panthers showed their commitment to the race with Devan Reddy who led the club’s marathon pack at 3:27:40 while Gidion Munyaradzi came in at 1:42:46 in the half marathon.
Deloitte Challenge Race Director and Dolphin Coast Striders chairman, Barry Holland said they look forward to hosting a bigger and better Deloitte Challenge in 2016.
“We believe that given the event’s prime spot on the sporting calendar as well as its status as the last Comrades qualifier and training run, the event will soon become one of the most anticipated events on the KZN sporting calendar,” said Holland.
Guy Brazier of Deloitte in KZN said they were delighted with the success of the event.
“We are thrilled with the number of people, across age groups, who chose to spend quality time outdoors on their public holiday as well as those who chose to support LIV, our event beneficiary. We received approximately R30 000 from athletes’s individual donations for this wonderful organisation,” said Brazier.
He said it was heartwarming to see the support and goodwill from the Ballito community, despite having to work their way around the road closures.
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