Sport
Two Oceans champs back in 2008

26 February 2008

Bethuel Netshifhefhe and Madina Biktagirova, the men's and women's winners of last year's Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon, will both be back to defend their titles when the 39th running of the 56-kilometre ultra-marathon takes place in Cape Town on 22 March.

Netshifhefhe, who won in a time of 03:07:56, was the first South African to win the ultra since 2003, when Mluleki Nobanda took line honours.

In the four years preceding his victory, the race had been dominated by Zimbabwean runners.

First ultra
Russian athlete Biktagirova won in her first attempt at an ultra-distance event in 03:35:04, which was the second fastest time ever in the Two Oceans ultra.

Her time was still quite some distance behind Frith van der Merwe's record of 03:30:36, which she set in 1989. In the same year, Van der Merwe won the Comrades in an astonishing record time of 5:54:43, which was good for 15th place overall.

Just over 18 500 participants have entered for the 56km and 21km events, with the half marathon yet again attracting a record field. Just over 11 000 people have signed up for it, making it the largest half marathon in the country.

Entries
Entries in the ultra marathon are slightly down on 2007's number, but this can be attributed to March being a busy month for ultra athletes, with the Argus Cycle Tour, Old Mutual Om die Dam Marathon, Cape Epic and the Ironman all taking place within weeks of each other.

Another factor is that the race is taking place about three weeks earlier than usual, due to Easter falling earlier this year.

According to race director Rowyn James there has been an increase in runners taking part in the shorter distances and, while the ultra remains the flagship event, the half marathon will be where the growth will occur.

Female participation
"What is interesting to see is that the major increase has been in the women's field in the half marathon. Almost 45% of the 21km field is women," he said.

Some other interesting statistics:

  • 78% of the field made use of the online entry facility.
  • The Western Cape has the biggest contingent of participants with just over 7 600 confirmed entries.
  • Over 10 000 entrants will come from outside of the Western Cape to participate.
  • Over 4 000 of them will make the trip from Gauteng to Cape Town for the Easter weekend.
  • 1 432 runners will travel from KwaZulu-Natal to take part.
  • Close to 800 runners will come from overseas and the rest of Africa. That represents a decline in last year's figures, which numbered just over 1 000 entries.
  • 32 runners will run the event on Good Friday, either for religious reasons or because they are part of the organising committee.

    Prizes
    The first man and woman to cross the finish line in the ultra will receive R150 000 each.

    Barons Volkswagen has put up incentives for the top runners to break the course records of Thompson Magawana (3:03:44) and Frith van der Merwe (3:30:36).

    A VW Polo is on offer for a record-breaking run.

    Source: Two Oceans Marathon