Cape Town – New national champions will be crowned this weekend, as some of South Africa’s most experienced road runners converge on the Mother City for the ASA Marathon Championships.
The Marathon Championship will be held in conjunction with the Balwin Sport Peninsula Marathon, to be held in Cape Town on Sunday.
In the men’s race, in the absence of defending champion Elroy Gelant (who finished fifth at the Hong Kong Marathon last week), Adam Lipschitz will line up as the firm favourite in the colours of KwaZulu-Natal Athletics (KZNA).
Lipschitz was the fastest South African over the 42km distance last year, setting a personal best of 2:08:54 in Valencia in December.
Adam Lipschitz
On paper, the rest of the field might struggle to put up a fight if Lipschitz is near his best, but some experienced athletes will be eager to upset the applecart.
His strongest challenges could come from a Central Gauteng Athletics (CGA) team that includes Gladwin Mzazi, a four-time former World Student Games gold medallist, as well as the likes of Kabelo Melamu and Bennet Seloyi.
With defending champion Cian Oldknow missing from the entry list in the women’s race, along with the rest of the country’s top marathon runners who are focusing on other goals in the early stages of the season, the battle for the national title will be wide open.
Though she is 49 years old, Charne Bosman might fancy her chances of securing a medal if she is in good shape.
A former national champion over the marathon and half-marathon distances, Bosman won the Comrades Marathon in 2016, and though she is past her prime, she has the strength and the experience to challenge her younger compatriots.
Other contenders include Bosman’s Athletics Gauteng North (AGN) teammates Patience Puleng Khumalo and nine-time Comrades Marathon gold medallist Yolande Maclean (AGN), as well as KZNA athlete Makhosazane Mhlongo.
“For many of us, I believe we are going to be part of another historic day of the ASA Marathon Championships,” said James Moloi, the President of Athletics South Africa.
“We thank the organisers of the Peninsula Marathon and the Western Province Athletics for this collaboration which has allowed us to host the national championships alongside this historical coastal race.
“We will be witnesses to an exciting mix of road-running where other runners will be chasing titles and jostling for spaces in the national team in the championship contest.
“Then in the open race, there will be a chase for positional finishers where money is the main incentive.
Lastly, there is the Masters Marathon Championships, where national titles are also the main attraction.”
Instagram: asa_athletics_south_africa
Twitter: @AthleticsSA_
Website: www.athleticssa.org.za
