'Elroy has inspired me' - Full-time worker Thabang Mathebula defends Durban City Marathon title in 2:17:06
On a cool and perfect day for running in Durban today (Sunday 30 March), Thabang Mathebula put on a superb 2:17:06 performance to dismantle the field on his way to successfully defending his Durban City Marathon title. By improving on the 2:19:53 he ran to win the same race last year, Mathebula lowered his personal best by over two minutes. He also won the race by over 6 minutes to second placed Sicelo Mkhwanazi, who clocked 2:23:29 in a photo finish against Black Diamond Athletic Club athlete Ncedisani Phungula who took the last podium position in the same time. Speaking after the race the 34-year-old Mathebula said sticking to the game plan they discussed with his coach Wade Forster paid off.
"I'm very happy that I managed to win. In fact I'm very excited to be able to defend the title I won last year," said an elated Mathebula who runs for the Save Orion Athletic Club and works as a Communication Officer at the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education.
"Before the race my coach said to me, I must go out there to do what I have done in training. It was all about putting in the hard work during training. This race was different though because at the start, most of the runners knew about me since I won the race last year. I think last year I came in as an unknown runner and I managed to surprise the field. The pressure was more this time around. Overall, I'm happy with the way I ran plus recording a personal best time too feels good."
In terms of his future plans, Mathebula who ran 6:23:28 at the Comrades Marathon last year to take 95th place overall, reveals that he won't participate in this year's Ultimate Human Race scheduled for 8 June. A relative late comer to elite level running after taking up the sport as a social runner in his twenties, Mathebula saw his 42km PB drop from 2:56 in 2022 to 2:19 last year, all while working full time. The Pietermaritzburg resident says this improvement has pushed him to focus on improving his time on the shorter distances before going back to race ultra marathons.
"No, I'm not going to the Comrades Marathon this year. I decided to go back to short distances. I think my strength is the speed and I'll focus on improving that. I think in the next four to five years, I'll go back to run Comrades Marathon too. Seeing a guy like Elroy Gelant running fast at his age has inspired me and showed me that I can be a better athlete. That guy is phenomenal and I take notes from his performances," he told #TheTopRunner.
In the women's race, Shelly Young won the race in a decent time of 3:04:47 while Hollywood Athletics Club runner Lethokuhle Letsoalo came second in 3:08:04. Nokuthula Ntshangase finished third in 3:13:33.
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