Stephen Mokoka secured his third victory at the annual Cape Town Marathon. Picture: Roger Sedres/Gallo Images
Local favourite Stephen Mokoka delivered a historic performance on Sunday, becoming the first man to win the Cape Town Marathon three times.
Though he finished outside the race record of 2:08:31, which he set in 2018, Mokoka coasted to a convincing victory in 2:09:58 to successfully defend the title he won last year.
ALSO READ: Forget labels and tags – the Cape Town Marathon is here to stay
Ethiopian athlete Derseh Kassie finished second in 2:11:26 and his compatriot, Dagnachew Maru, was third in 2:11:52.
“This is a tough course,” said 37-year-old Mokoka, after organisers made some adjustments to the route for this year’s race.
“The first 10km was very tough and the last part was a little nicer, but in the middle it was also very tough. But I wanted to run under 2:10:00, so I’m happy.”
Foreign athletes dominated the women’s contest, with Kenya’s Meseret Meleka smashing the race record.
Meleka stormed over the line in 2:24:02, ripping nearly two minutes off the previous mark (2:25:44) set by Lydia Simiyu last year.
Stella Marais was the first South African woman to finish, taking eighth position in a personal best time of 2:38:34.
ALSO READ: With a new-look calendar, the road running season is still in full swing
In the men’s wheelchair event, pre-race favourite Aaron Pike of the United States took the win in 1:40:15, with South African veteran Ernst van Dyk grabbing the runner-up spot in 1:44:02.
Vanessa de Souza of Brazil won the women’s wheelchair race in 1:57:48, holding off a strong challenge from Mauritian athlete Noemi Alphonse, who finished just one second off the pace in a late sprint for the line.