The Old Mutual “Run The Zone” 10km race over an interesting course in the East London Industrial Development Zone on Saturday was earmarked as a qualifying event for the selection of local athletes to the SA 10km Championships in Potchefstroom on October 17.
It is once again an altitude race.
Yanga Malusi from Langa, Cape Town, chalked up another win in the men’s race with a 31:35, beating Border’s Luyolo Ngcongolo of Powered Up Runners by just nine seconds.
Anele Dlamini of Black Diamond, Mthatha, was third and also won the veteran 40-49 age group with a time of 32:36 while Sinethemba Jilingisi of Real Gijimas followed six seconds adrift of Dlamini in 32:42.
Achilles Athletic Club’s Gift Chigomararwa completed the top five with a 34:46.
None of the first five men were able to break Border’s 31-minute qualifying time set for the SA Champs.
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The women’s race took on a similar look as most recent races, save those who did not enter.
Caryn Lategan of Easy Equities Born2run is one of a group of women who is consistently on the local race podiums, and she won both overall and as the first veteran 40-49 runner in 39:53.
Lategan was the only woman who qualified to run the SA Championships in her age group.
The second woman was the young Refiloe Masipa of Limpopo University in 41:52, while Cindy Nel of Easy Equities Born2run was third overall and first in the sub-veteran 35+ race just 10 seconds off the pace.
In the two junior races there was “time disappointment”, as the youngsters, especially the men, usually qualify, but against a required 33 minutes, Sinothando Goniwe of Real Gijimas posted a time of 35:53 and Mbasa Nyathani of Nedbank a 36:55.
Boxer’s Uviwe Simon won the girls’ junior event in 45:46 which was 4:10 ahead of her clubmate, Imange Norayase, in second position.
Their target was set at 40 minutes.
Goniwe made the decision to run, but Real Gijimas as a club did not send their top juniors.
“We need our athletes to rest between races, and especially so the juniors,” club chair Alex Kambule said.
“The notification of the need to qualify at the IDZ race only arrived on Friday, the day before the event.”
One of the prizewinning athletes has also questioned the reasons for the slower times across the board.
Other runners to lay claim to the top two in the categories included Bulelani Mgubo of Overtakers, who was second in the 40+ men in 36:21, while Nicolette Lennox of Nedbank was the second woman in the same category in 59:31.
In the 50+ races, the first woman was Weziwe Dlavana of Powered Up Runners in 47:42, with Riana Kay of Buffs second in 53:26.
Nedbank’s Siyabulela Madlavana won the men’s event in 36:46, with Clinton Hayward of Old Selbornians second in 41:16.
The men’s 60+ was again headed up by Ikhamva athlete Desmond Zibi in 39:28, with Easy Equities Born2Run’s Makaya Masumpa second in 41:25.
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