CRADOCK athlete, Bonakele Ntshangase, from Cradock Athletics Club, bagged a gold medal at the R63 Radio Marathon, which was held in Bedford on Saturday, October 17.
The R63 Radio Marathon is a month-long campaign which began on October 10, in Adelaide, while Bedford hosted the event this past weekend.
The following hosting towns are Fort Beaufort on Saturday and Alice on October 31.
The 40-year-old long distance runner finished the 10km race in 39 minutes and 34 seconds in the men’s category.
Ntshangase has been taking part in some of the biggest half marathons in South Africa such as the Cape Town Marathon and Comrades Marathon.
He said the preparation for the race went smoothly and he was honoured to be invited.
“I prepared hard for this race and I invested a lot of time preparing myself. I am glad I came first.
“The objective was to honour the invitation, but I ended up winning the race. It’s a consolation for missing some of the races due to COVID-19 this year,” said Ntshangase.
He also admitted that it was not easy preparing and participating in races without a sponsor.
“We are struggling to attract sponsors, especially for travelling around to take part in other events. I have some people who help out with donations, but I think we need more to develop other athletes who will take over after us,” said Ntshangase.
He said he would be defending his title in Alice and would bring it back to Cradock.
Other athletes from the Cradock Athletics Club who took part in the race included Thokoza Galada, Lesley Koeseba, Somelele Ndamane, Lucia Ndamane, Vuyani Shweni and Simphiwe Tshanga.
