'Bong'musa helped me' - Khatoane says Mthembu told him to surge and win the Mpumalanga Million Rand Race
Billed as the first marathon on the continent whose winner will walk away as a millionaire, the Mpumalanga Marathon attracted some of South Africa and Africa's best marathoners and ultra-marathoners, who lined up for a slice of the mouthwatering prize money. 2022 Two Oceans Marathon runner-up Nkosikhona Mhlakwana, two-time (2016 & 2017) Cape Town Marathon champion Asefa Mengtsu Negewo of Ethiopia and a host of others took on the hilly 42,2km route through Nelspruit from Dayizenza to Riverside Mall in Mbombela. In the end it was Lesotho’s Jobo Khatoane who triumphed to secure the bulging bag.
"Because of the big prize money on offer and all the top runners that were there, I was actually scared at the start and ran the first 10km quite conservatively," he told #TheTopRunner shortly after his victory. "But then I caught up with Bong’musa Mthembu at 10km and shouted at me and told me to stop jogging and go. He He told me to run and not to wait for the East Africans because if I wait they will out sprint me at the end anyway. I kicked from there. Lucky Mohale went with me, but then I dropped him on a hill around 13km."
The Maxed Elite Running Club athlete didn’t look back. Working systematically on the demanding course he gradually dropped his average pace from 3:21 at halfway, to 3:15 at the 32km mark. No one could respond as he coasted to a commanding 2:18:04 win which was more than two minutes ahead of Mohale (2:20:45) who earned R150 000, as Kenya’s Samuel Kalalei took third place (2:20:53) for which he was rewarded with R100 000. For the victory, Khatoane credits his coach Martin Ngwenya for devising a watertight strategy and putting together a gruelling training programme.
“I feel so happy because this is my first big win since I started working with Mr. Ngwenya. Although I struggled a bit when I first started training on his programme two years ago, my body has now adjusted well. I was also confident after leading Comrades to halfway earlier this year. I knew that a 42km race is shorter than reaching the halfway mark at Comrades, plus the Comrades course is much tougher. Also, I love hilly courses. Tough races is where my muscles work. They love a challenge. I’m so happy to be the first African to win a million," he laughed.
After claiming such a handsome winner’s cheque, most athletes would declare their season over. But not Jobo. He still has one more big fish to fry. Known for having been dominated by runners from The Mountain Kingdom, the Africanbank Soweto Marathon is close to his heart and on the very top of his to-do list. And after claiming seventh place there in 2022 and fifth last year, Khatoane says he has unfinished business with Soweto.
"My year is not over yet. I've never been on the podium of Soweto. My preparation for Soweto will be similar to what I did to get ready for this (Mpumalanga Marathon) race. I did a lot of hill work and also practiced running downhill a lot. Even though I’m a millionaire, I’ll train like I did for this race. I’ll run as though I’m broke."
In the women's race, Ethiopia's Tadu Nare destroyed the field finishing 17th overall with a winning time of 2:37:20 which was more than seven minutes faster than runner-up Shelmith Muruiki (2:44:47) of Kenya. Maxed Elite Lesotho's Malineo Mahloko grabbed the last podium position in 2:50:09.
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