Third consecutive title for local star at SA half marathon championship
Local star athlete Stephen Mokoka this past weekend defended his title by winning the South African half marathon championship for the third time.
Pretoria’s Stephen Mokoka (Gauteng North) said in the build-up to the SA Half Marathon Championship in Port Elizabeth, that a world class time around 61 minutes would be needed for a win.
In the end the 34-year-old came within a whisker of running a personal pest to hold off an aggressive onslaught from one of his old rivals, Elroy Gelant.
Mokoka crossed the line in 60:56 with Gelant hitting 61:00 (a personal best for him), while Precious Mashele had the race of his life to claim third place in 61:21.
The thrill-a-minute race at Pollock Beach, Summerstrand was hosted by Eastern Province Athletics (EPA) in conjunction with the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality.
In near perfect conditions, almost 3000 athletes set off at 07:00 with the best of South Africa looking to shut out the foreign challenge from Kenya and Ethiopia. While the men were successful in that attempt, it was the 18-year-old Tadu Neru from Ethiopia who dominated the women’s race from the gun to the finish.
A big pack of 25 athletes in the men’s contest, with all the main contenders, went through the first five kilometres after a slow first kilometre (3:05). It was after eight kilometres that the pace picked up dramatically when the duo of Kenyans Bernard Bil and David Maru began driving the pace, with South Africa’s Gelant throwing in surge after surge.
Mokoka, Gelant, Mashele and Joel Mmone then attacked and dropped the Kenyan challenge in the final four kilometres. First to fall off in the closing stages of the race was Mmone and when Mokoka threw in another surge in the final two kilometres, Mashele too had to give way.
Mokoka’s famous finishing kick stood him in good stead as he was again able to get a small gap on arch rival, Gelant.
For the Gauteng North athlete this was a hat trick, as he took the gold medal for the third consecutive year, with Gelant having to settle for second yet again.
“I knew we could go fast here. This is a great course, the conditions were perfect and the youngsters were keen and helped push the pace. It is always an honour and privilege to win a national title,” Mokoka said after his victory.
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