Defending champion Stephen Mokoka once again showed why he is South Africa’s premier marathoner as he claimed a third win in the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon.

The Olympian and multiple SA Champion broke the tape in 2:09:58, three seconds faster than his winning 2:10:01 last year, and the fourth-fastest winning time in the race’s history.

Second position went to Ethiopian Derseh Kindie Kassie in 2:11:26, with his countryman Dagnachew Adere Maru outsprinting Kenya’s Raymond Kipchumba Choge to take third place.

In the women’s race, Meseret Dinke Meleka of Ethiopia took line honours in 2:24:02, smashing the 2:25:44 record.

But the day belonged to the evergreen Mokoka. In the elite race, the leading men ran conservatively in the first half of the race, passing halfway in 1:05:36, with Stephen Mokoka biding his time near the front of the lead pack until the 32km mark.

Stephen Mokoka successfully defends his Sanlam Cape Town Marathon title.

Top 3 Men:
1. Stephen Mokoka – 2:09:58
2. Derseh Kindie Kassie – 2:11:26
3. Dagnachew Adere Maru – 2:11:52 pic.twitter.com/2XAAp77ei1

— Cape Town Marathon (@CTMarathon) October 16, 2022

He then made his move and steadily increased his lead over the last 10km – he was 21 seconds clear of second-placed Kassie at 35km, and just over a minute clear at 40km.

“This was a tough, tough course. Normally at 25km you start enjoying a marathon, but at 28km today, we climbed that hill in District Six and it got really hard for a while, but overall, I really enjoyed the race. I really hope this race does become an Abbott World Marathon Majors race, and I hope that government, corporates and runners all get involved to make it happen,” Mokoka remarked after the race.

The Pretoria star athlete set a 50km World Record earlier this year in Gqeberha, and that mark was broken just a few weeks before the Cape Town Marathon. When asked what the win in Cape Town means to him, compared to other wins and records, Mokoka said he was delighted to win in Cape Town for a third time.

“I have won races overseas, too, but this is still special. Records are meant to be broken, but titles stay forever, and this win means more to me than just running a fast time. It’s also about the memories of our runs,” he concluded.

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