'I wanted to break away at 50km but coach said no' - How Seutloali won Two Oceans

Because they boast an arsenal of top runners such as Teboho Sello and Lebenya Nkoka who featured prominently in many of South Africa's major road races like the Soweto Marathon during the mid 2000's, it may surprise some to learn that it has been ten years since an athlete from The Mountain Kingdom won the Two Oceans Marathon. But Joseph Khoarahlane Seutloali ended that drought yesterday (Saturday 5 April) when he breasted the finishing tape in 3:10:46 ahead of Siboniso Sikhakhane (3:11:17) and Lucky Mohale (3:11:26) to become the first man from Lesotho to win the Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon since 2015.

"I'm so happy and satisfied with the work I did today," he told #TheTopRunner moments after celebrating victory in the 56km race that started at Main Road in Newlands Cape Town and finished at the UCT Rugby Fields. "Last year I took eighth position in my debut Two Oceans. We went back to the drawing board and corrected my mistakes in training and that’s what led to the good performance."

Seutloali powers to victory moments after breaking away from Sikhakhane just after the 53km mark. Photo Credit: ABPhotoZ.

Assisting Seutloali and his coach Andrew Booyens with the analysis of the #Tokyo2021 Olympian's 2024 3:13:50 Two Oceans run, was the last Mosotho to win the race - Motlokoa Nkhabutlane. As a training partner and mentor to the Hollywood Athletic Club top runner who also claimed the runner-up position at the Africanbank Soweto Marathon last November, Nkhabutlane could advise Seutloali on what he needed to do to secure the victory this time around.

“I train with Nkhabutlane and we have the same coach so he told me on what I needed to fix in order to get things right. Two Oceans is hilly, so we trained in the mountains. Every weekend we would leave Maseru to train on tough routes in Lesotho. Then coach and I agreed on the strategy. I wanted to break away at 50km, but he refused and told me to only take the lead with three kilometres to go so I ran away from them at 53km and it worked."

Steyn surrounded by a group of men at the 25km point of the race. Steyn completed the first 28km of the race in 1:40:44 after getting off to a fast start. Photo Credit: Thami Sukazi.

Winning the women's race in 3:29:11, Gerda Steyn not only secured a record-breaking sixth consecutive Two Oceans title, but she also made it a purple party as the Hollywoodbets sponsored running club won both the men's and women's races. Running in the colours of the Entsika Athletic Club Shelmith Muruiki of Kenya clocked 3:37:50 for second place, while Hollywood's Neheng Khatala (3:40:38) of Lesotho followed up her victory at the 2024 Soweto Marathon with a third place finish in The Mother City.

"Today was one hundred percent a successful result for me. I would take the win each and every time. It's by no means less important to me than when I won in a record time (3:26:54) last year. I tried to things a little bit differently today by going out fast. I'm always worried that competitors will get used to the way I run. It was a bit risky because the second half of the race is tough. So to come away with the win today makes me really, really happy."