'He is a good addition to the club' - Comrades star Joseph Manyedi signs for Maxed Elite
In their ambition to dominate the 2025 Comrades Marathon, the Maxed Elite Running Club has made a huge signing by roping in four-time Comrades gold medalist Joseph Manyedi. The news was confirmed by Maxed Athletics Manager Martin Ngwenya, who believes Manyedi's addition will bring a wealth of experience to the club.
"I can confirm with you that we have managed to sign Joseph Manyedi for this year. He doesn't need any introduction to followers of ultra distance running as he has achieved and performed well especially in the Comrades Marathon," said elated Ngwenya.
The 42-year-old Manyedi joins the Mr Price Sport-backed running club from the Nedbank Running Club where he was part of the 'Happy Bunch.' Consisting of two time winner and Down Run record holder Tete Dijana, 2019 Champion Edward "Slender" Mothibi and last year's runner-up Dan Moselakwe, the Rustenburg-based group which trains under the watchful eye of legendary coach Dave Adams famously dominated the 2022 Comrades Marathon taking five of the ten men's gold medals on offer.
During the last edition of the world's oldest ultramarathon, Manyedi delivered an outstanding performance taking fourth position overall in a personal best 5:28:33. It was his fourth consecutive gold medal and his best ever position in nine starts at The Ultimate Human Race. After obtaining just three Gold Comrades medals during last year's Up Run (Teboho Sello of Lesotho took 8th position in the men's race, while Alexander Morozova and Yulia Ryzhankova finished in second and tenth place respectively in the women's event), Ngwenya is hopeful that Manyedi will help them achieve the men's podium position that has eluded Maxed since Ludwick Mamabolo won the 90km race in 2012.
"Bringing him to the club will assist us especially in Comrades. He has huge talent, so now it's our job as a club to assist him to keep on performing very well. He is the kind of the athlete who is quiet and focuses on delivering on the road. He has a good personality which is one thing I like about him. So I'm happy that we managed to get athlete like him. He is a good addition to the club."
Besides the signing of Manyedi, Maxed also added former SA Marathon Champion Simon Sibeko, who has a personal best time of 2:12:05. The 29-year-old Sibeko who joins Maxed from Ikhamva AC, was part of the Team SA Marathon squad that traveled to the 2023 World Athletics Championship in Hungarian capital, Budapest.
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