A good day for Lesotho

Man on form... Tšepo Mathibelle 

Lesotho had a day to remember at Sunday’s Soweto Marathon as three local runners finished in the top ten of the prestigious race.

Lesotho has a good track record at the South African distance running showpiece with Motlokoa Nkhabutlane finishing second in 2014 and Lebenya Nkoka coming fifth last year in the most recent races.

The proud run continued on Sunday as Olympian Tšepo Mathibelle claimed a fine second place finish behind winner, Sintayehu Legese Yinesu of Ethiopia.

Mathibelle completed the 42.2 kilometres course in a time of 2 hours 21 minutes and 46 seconds, just a minute adrift of Yinesu who secured a record third straight Soweto Marathon title.

Mathibelle’s compatriot Seutloali Khoarahlane, meanwhile, finished third in a time of 2:23.22 hours while Moses Mosuhli came fifth in 2:24.9 hours.

A heat wave had been expected to wreak havoc on the race; however, the day’s temperatures started at around 17 degrees and only rose to 22 degrees making for near-perfect conditions for the runners.

Thanks to the even conditions there was no clear favourite in the main race and after the halfway mark there were more than 10 men in the chase for glory.

However, Yinesu broke away with less than 10 kilometres to go, leaving Lesotho’s Mathibelle and Khoarahlane in his wake to finish second and third. Fellow Lesotho runner Mosuhli was also in the chasing pack and he ended fifth behind Ethiopian Ketema Bekele Negasa as Ethiopia and Lesotho dominated the top five.

Fifth place finisher... Moses Mosuhli 

In the women’s race the winner was also from Ethiopia as Selam Abere coasted to victory. Abere won by nearly three minutes, covering the race in 2:42.32 hours.

There was also success for Lesotho in the men’s 10 kilometre race as Namakoe Nkhasi, who represented Lesotho at the 2016 Rio Olympics, ran out victorious.

Roughly 25 000 runners lined up at the start line at FNB Stadium to contest the 42, 21 and 10 kilometre races that comprise the Soweto Marathon.

David Manja and Joel Mohau gave hosts South Africa some joy in the men's half marathon finishing first and second while Onneile Dintwe of Botswana won the women’s 21 kilometre race ahead of South African runners Lebogang Phalula and Christine Kalmer.

Chery-Lee Schoeman won the women's 10 kilometre race.

For Mathibelle the Soweto Marathon continued his good form since August’s Rio Olympics. Last month Mathibelle finished second in the 21 kilometre half-marathon at the eThekwini Township2Township Marathon in Durban.

 Results:

Position	Name	Country	Club	Time
1	Sintayehu Legese Yinesu	Ethiopia	Nedbank Running Club	2:20:44
2	Tšepo Mathibelle	Lesotho	Phantane AC	2:21:46
3	Seutloali Khoarahlane	Lesotho	Maxed Elite	2:23:22
4	Ketema Bekele Negasa	Ethiopia	Nedbank Running Club	2:24:07
5	Moses Mosuhli	Lesotho	Maxed Elite	2:24:09
6	Mike Fokoroni	Zimbabwe	Nedbank Running Club	2:24:39
7	Edward Mothibi	South Africa	Impala Marathon Club	2:25:33
8	Johannes Kekana	South Africa	Cool Running	2:26:59
9	Ndlela Siphiwe Nicholas	South Africa	Nedbank Running Club	2:27:10