The Nelson Mandela Bay Half Marathon, which is being held in Marine Drive alongside the beautiful stretch of ocean, proved to be one of the quickest half marathons in the country.
Athletes Namakoe Nkhasi and Ftaw Bezabh emerged quickest of the day to capture stunning victories in an event which also holds the coveted World Athletics Elite Label Road Race status.
With a pack of 15 leading men upfront, the pace was quick from the onset with local athlete Melikhaya Frans driving the pace throughout. With only 2km to go and still over a dozen men in contention, Nedbank running club’s Nkhasi hit the front together with Frans and defending champion Precious Mashele in a drive for the line, but nobody could match the Lesotho national’s pace as he crossed the line in a new personal best of 1:00:01. Behind him Frans collected the ASA National title in a new Eastern Province record of 1:01:03 and Daniel Paulus from Namibia rounded off the podium in third.
The women’s race was the opposite of the men’s, with the lone Bezabh moving to the front from the moment the starters pistol was fired. Behind her, Helalia Johannes and Tadu Nare chased hard but would fall 52 seconds shy at the finish line, as Bezabh not only took victory but shattered the course record to finish in 01:06:57. Johannes finished second in 1:07:49, a new world record age group best for 40 years and over with Nare rounding the podium off in a new best of 1:07:49. Glenrose Xaba retained her national champion title in 1:10:41 with Irvette Van Zyl and Diana Lebo Phalula taking the silver and bronze medal positions.
