More than 130 athletes, under the auspices of Athletics Griqualand West (AGW), took on the 2023 Comrades Marathon last Sunday.
In this down run race from Pietermaritzburg to Durban on 11 June, the first AGW athlete to finish this notoriously gruelling race was Mojalefa Ditshwele of the Sesheng Athletics Club in 6:22:09, according to AGW’s published list of race results.
Athletes of the Teemaneng Running Club (TRC) conquered the second, third, and fourth positions among Northern Cape athletes.
These runners are Mothibi Selaledi (6:52:06), Tebogo Moipolai (7:08:38), and Arthur Nziweni (7:09:42). Sydney Mervin of the Hopetown Running Club was the fifth Northern Cape athlete to cross the finish line.
Frances Nel of the Kimberley Road Runners was the first Northern Cape woman to finish the race. Nel completed her eighth Comrades in 09:29:58. Her best time thus far, 8:52, was clocked last year.
“Every year the route and the torture is the same, but the friends and companionship you make along the way are unique,” she says.
Nel is aiming to complete ten Comrades Marathons, “with maybe an 11th with my green number”.
On News24, Lloyd Burnard reported that nearly 15 000 runners took part.
“It was a magical day that saw participants from all over the world descend on KwaZulu-Natal, and it was made even more special by South African heroes Tete Dijana and Gerda Steyn, smashing the down run records on their way to epic victories.”
Dijana finished in 5:13:58, and Steyn crossed in 5:44:54.
