Riana van Niekerk from Centurion won her sixth ‘Om die Dam’ title when she was the first woman to complete this gruelling ultra-marathon of 50km around the Hartbeespoort Dam the past weekend.

The conditions was very tough very hot and humid and Van Niekerk, who runs for the Nedbank Club, won the demanding race in 3 hours, 30 minutes and 7 seconds.

Emmerentia Rautenbach finished second, more than three minutes behind Van Niekerk in 3 hours 33 minutes and 35 seconds, and former champion Lizih Chokore of Zimbabwe settled for third place.

Van Niekerk also won the race in 2002, 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2014. Afterwards she thanked her club and its manager, the well-known former Comrades winner, Nick Bester, for supporting her.

Van Niekerk also won the Bronkhorstspruit 32km and Best Med 21km this year. Her next race will be the ‘Wing for life World’ run in Cape Town in May. This is all part of her build-up to the Comrades Marathon. She has already won four gold medals in the Comrades.

William Mokwalakwa defended his title in the Om die Dam men’s race, securing victory in 2 hours 57 minutes and 59 seconds on the newly designed route, well clear of Zimbabwean Felix Mushurwa, who took second place.