Last updated: 19-Jun-18
It was a great day for South Africa at Comrades this weekend with Bong’musa Mthembu and Ann Ashworth coming in first in the men’s and women’s categories and South Africa also taking the second spots with Joseph Mphuthi and Gerda Steyn.
The win gave Mthembu his hatrick after he won in 2014 and 2017.
The first Comrades Marathon was actually run on what was then Empire Day on 24 May 1921. Then, 34 runners lined up before the Pietermaritzburg City Hall to start the race to Durban to commemorate the spirit and camaraderie of the soldiers who fought in the Great War.
Its founder Vic Clapham (war veteran & SA Railways engine driver) set it up to create a living memorial to the spirit of his “comrades” who suffered so greatly in the war.
Now the race has 20,000 participants and is an absolute fixture on the world calendar. This year it was a “down” race as the route switches every year and the distance was around 90km. Whichever way you do it, it is a hard race with nasty hills and plenty of undulation.
Mthembu didn’t have the race all his own way as he had a strong challenge from Marko Mambo of Zimbabwe‚ in the second half of the 90km down run. He made his break at Cowies Hill‚ around 18km from the finish at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.
Top 10 finishers
Men
- Bong’musa Mthembu‚ RSA (5:26:34)
- Joseph Mphuthi‚ RSA (5:35: 09)
- Steven Way, Great Britain (5:35:27)
- Edward Mothibi‚ RSA (5:36:32)
- Marko Mambo‚ Zimbabwe (5:37:49)
- Gordon Lesetedi‚ RSA (5:39:32)
- Teboho Sello‚ Lesotho (5:42:21)
- David Gatebe‚ RSA‚ (5:42:43)
- Gift Kelehe‚ RSA (5:46:50)
- Nkosinathi Duma‚ RSA (5:47:09)
Women
- Ann Ashworth‚ RSA (6:10:04)
- Gerda Steyn‚ RSA (6:15:34)
- Alexandra Morozova‚ Russia (6:20:21)
- Tanith Maxwell‚ RSA (6:20:35)
- Charne Bosman‚ RSA (6:33:08)
- Sophia Sundberg‚ Sweden (6:45;24)
- Devon Yanko‚ USA (6:47:44)
- Sarah Bard‚ USA‚ (6:49:05)
- Carla Molinaro‚ Great Britain (6:50:31)
- Yolande McLean‚ RSA (6:52:16)
