'I'm pleased with my performance' - Gelant sets sights on World Champs Qualification in April after 2:12 in Hong Kong
South African Marathoner Elroy Gelant is pleased with his performance at the Hong Kong Marathon performance over the weekend. Gelant battled against a quality field of East African athletes on a demanding course to finish fifth overall in a spirited 2:12:30.
"It was the first time I ran in Hong Kong and it was a valuable experience. The course wasn't that easy. It was full of ups and down. It was nice because I like the challenging courses. I enjoyed the race from start to finish and it was one of my best races in terms of how my body reacted," said the Boxer Athletics Club top runner.
The 38-year-old 3-time Olympian opened his 2025 account in Asia on the back of a wonderful season last year when he managed to dip under 28 minutes twice over 10km distance to set a new personal best of 27:47. The former SA 5 000m record holder also dipped under 2:10 three times as he won the national marathon and half marathon titles. But his biggest performance including finishing in 11th position in Paris Olympics over the marathon distance. Gelant says his first race in Hong Kong was a success and means that he is on track to run a good marathon in April.
"The main goal was to get an experience of running in Asia and secondly to prepare myself for a marathon in April. Overall, I'm pleased with my performance after the break that I took to spend time with my family in December. It means that my fitness wasn't wasn't one hundred percent going into the race since I only had one month of training. I'm pleased with the time and I know that last year's training assisted me to run well. This is a good foundation and I'm looking forward to the year," he explained.
But which April marathon will he race? Gelant told #TheTopRunner that he is still undecided about which race to tackle. He will choose between to two spring marathons in Holland. It's a decision that will be made with his entire team, led by coach Jean Verster as they aim to dip under 2:06:30 to earn automatic qualification for the World Championships taking place in Tokyo in September.
"I'll sit down with the coach and decide. I have been trying to choose between the Rotterdam and the Hamburg Marathon to use as my qualification for the World Championship later this year. I know Rotterdam is popular as it has produced some fast times in the past. It is a good Marathon if you are looking for the personal best time," said the man who ran is career best 2:08:56 at the Sevilla Marathon in Spain twelve months ago.
Gelant also revealed that Lesotho's Neheng Khatala who is also based in Potchefstroom and joins his training group for some sessions, has been a valuable sounding board to help him decided on which race to choose. The reigning Africanbank Soweto Marathon champion took tenth place at the 2024 Hamburg Marathon, making her the perfect person to advise Gelant about the race.
"I also did some research about the Hamburg Marathon through Neheng since she understands the route very well. She told me that the route is not that flat as it has some hills. I know I'm more powerful on a hilly route than a flat one. Plus I know Hamburg is a city that loves running. As a track runner, I participated in many meetings there."
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