Johannesburg – South Africa’s top road runners will battle it out for coveted titles in the Athletics South Africa’s marathon championships this coming Sunday.
After setting the course record of 2:08:31 in 2018, Stephen Mokoka returns to defend his crown.
While the international line-up is likely to challenge Mokoka for top honours in the Cape Town Marathon, his countrymen are expected to struggle to put up a fight for the national title.
Mokoka, the SA half-marathon record holder, is a four-time winner of the Shanghai Marathon in China and finished fifth in the 42km race at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha.
Similarly, Gerda Steyn is expected to dominate the ASA Marathon Championships in her first 42km race on South African soil.
Steyn broke the long-standing national women’s marathon record in Italy earlier this year, clocking 2:25:28. She went on to finish 15th at the Tokyo Olympics in August.
Provided she has recovered sufficiently from her performance at the Tokyo Games, she will be difficult to beat.
This year’s marathon will be incorporated into the Cape Town Marathon.
With Cape Town Marathon organisers having been cleared by government and Athletics South Africa to host a mass field, 10 000 runners are due to line up this weekend, with a rolling start being used to ensure health and safety protocols are met.
“These are indeed exciting times for road running as we welcome the long-awaited ASA Marathon Championships which are back with a bang,” said James Moloi, the President of Athletics South Africa.
“It comes at the right time to provide great relief to all of us and especially to road runners.
“The field is great in both the men’s and women’s races where our top athletes will be well tested by the international runners who have entered.
“We are also happy to announce that the race will be broadcast live on both SuperSport and the SABC from 6.15 am. This is an exciting development for fans that can follow it on TV.
“The event also comes at the right time when we have been allowed 10 000 participants by government, which was followed by another government announcement shortly after allowing a maximum 2000 spectators for outdoors and 750 for indoors.
“We are urging everyone who will be at the race in Cape Town to vaccinate so that we can return to the government with proof to request for the numbers of spectators to be vastly increased.
Vaccination sites will be setup by the Western Cape Health Department to provide this service to all.
Even those who will not be at the event are encouraged to vaccinate.
We will soon start consolidating the numbers of all vaccinated and send the proof to the Minister Nathi Mthethwa to plead our case as an Athletics Family.”
The Athletics South Africa said all participants will undergo Covid-19 antigen testing 48 hours prior to the race whether they have been vaccinated or not.
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