Top Nelson Mandela Bay road runner Melikhaya Frans and elite SA long-distance runner Glenrose Xaba will turn out in
defence of their national 21.1km titles in Gqeberha tomorrow.
The Nelson Mandela Bay Half Marathon is back in full force with nearly 1500 athletes expected to line up at 07.00
tomorrow at Pollok Beach, Summerstrand.
The race, organized by Eastern Province Athletics, in partnership with the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, holds
World Athletics Elite Label road race status, and will incorporate the ASA Half Marathon National Championships.
The scene is set for another spectacular finish with top local, national and international athletes competing on South
African soil.
Last year saw a nail-biting finish when Lesotho’s Namakoe Nkhasi won in his personal best time of 1:00:01, narrowly
beating local favourite Melikhaya Frans by two seconds. Frans smashed his lifetime best by over a minute as he set a
new EP record and at the same time won his first national title in 1:01:03. Nkhasi and Frans will be on the starting line
again and will expect hot competition from Kenya’s Kipkemoi Kiprono and Ethiopia’s Dinkalem Ayele, who are looking
to improve on their personal best times.
Frans, who holds the national 30km record, faces SA half marathon record holder Stephen Mokoka (Athletics Gauteng
North), national 10km record holder Precious Mashele (Central Gauteng Athletics) and SA 5000m record holder Elroy
Gelant (Athletics Central North West).
Top local runner, Thabang Mosiako hopes to improve on his 61.59 personal best on this fast 21km route, feeling strong
after his recent 27.52 personal best 10km in Gqeberha.
Desmond Zibi, of Ikhamva athletics club, will have the EP 55-59 age group record of 1.12.30 in his sights, which he
narrowly missed last year.
On the woman’s international front, last year the race was dominated by Ethiopia’s Ftaw Zeray who led from gun to
tape to claim the victory in 1:06:57, but will not be competing this year. Confirmed competitors are Genet Habela
Abdurkadir, of Ethiopia, who is looking forward to improving her personal best time of 1.12.57 when she last competed
in the 2018 edition of the Half Marathon, recent winner of the Two Oceans Half Marathon, Emma Pallant, who is
looking to make a memorable debut in this distance and Ethiopia’s Chaltu Bedo, who boasts a personal best half
marathon time of 1.11.50.
Glenrose Xaba will be aiming to secure her third straight ASA half-marathon title after setting a 10km personal best of
32.12 in Gqeberha last week, but the AGN star will have to beat a quality line-up to retain her national crown. The
women’s national field features Kesa Molotsane (Athletics Free State), in-form CGA athletes Cacisile Sosibo and Cian
Oldknow, and national marathon champion Annie Bothma (WP Athletics).
The Nelson Mandela Bay Half Marathon has built a reputation as one of the fastest 21km courses on the African
continent.
Last year four national records fell as Lesotho’s Namakoe Nkhasi (1:01:01) and Neheng Khathala (1:09:57) bettered
the Mountain Kingdom’s men’s and women’s records respectively, while Daniel Paulus (1:01:10) and Helalia Johannes
(1:07:49) did the same for Namibia.