Ludwick Mamabolo
After 6 years of foreign domination of the Comrades Marathon, Ludwick Mamabolo once again carried the flag for South Africa as he crossed the line in 5:31.03.
Mamabolo ran a solid race and timed his attack to perfection as early leader Lebogang Monyele set a pace that was well below the down course record of 5:20.49 run by Leonid Shvetsov in 2007.
Monyele was caught by SA Marathon record holder Gert Thys who then went through halfway in 2:34.56 – also still way below record pace. But the fast pace soon caught up with Thys as he relinquished his lead to Mamabolo and Claude Moshiwa after almost four hours on the road.
Mamabolo controlled the race from there on for the win. KZN runner Bongmuse Mthembu was second across the line in 5:32.40. In all 5 South Africans placed in the top 10.
Kerry Koen was first South African across the line in the women’s race, finishing 6th in 6:45.44. She led two other South African women to a top ten position in race that was won by Elena Nurgalieva after a bitter battle with Eleanor Greenwood. Nurgalieva won her 7th title in 6:07.12 with Greenwood timed at 6:08.24. Melanie van Rooyen was 9th in 6.52:36 and 10th went to Julanie Basson 7:00:45.
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