South African David Gatebe wins Comrades Marathon
DURBAN
- South African David Gatebe has won the Comrades Marathon 2016 with a time of
05:18:19, setting a new men's record.
He
said "I had a two minute lead and when I started to smell the ocean in
Durban I knew I would do it,"
Russian
Leonid Shvetsov in 2007 set the ‘down’ run record of 5:20:49, and the
previously unheralded Gatebe in Comrades circles, put in a truly historic
performance to shatter that mark by over 2 minutes.
In
second place, fellow South African and 2012 Comrades champion was Ludwick
Mamabolo who crossed the line in 5:24:05. Taking third was another SA runner
Bongmusa Mthembu in 5:26:39.
Gatebe,
the 2013 Two Oceans champion, had not made it into the top 20 in his three
previous attempts. Gatebe, however, does have a 2:14 marathon time behind his
name and showed off his speed in the latter stages of the race to power to
victory.
The
34-year-old worked his way up from 54th position after 16.5km, moving into the
top 10 at the halfway stage. But in the final 44km, Gatebe was unmatched in the
way he powered ahead to claim a memorable breakthrough win.
As
he crossed the line, Gatebe even managed to do push-ups for the appreciative
crowd.
“I’m
feeling so good and happy I broke the record,” said Gatebe afterwards.
“I
told myself, not to worry about anyone and just ran on my own near the end.” -
Additional reporting ANA
Myron Naicker
(@myronnaicker) May 29, 2016
Sunday 29 May
2016
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