Mosiane downs Mokoka and Mothibi to win Balwin Sport Pretoria Marathon ahead of Two Oceans debut
Reuben Mosiane announced himself as a favourite to grab a top ten finish at the TotalSports Two Oceans marathon in April after coming away with a comfortable victory at yesterday's (23 February) Balwin Sport Pretoria Marathon. Known as a tough race with over 600m of elevation, the Nedbank Running Club rising star had run the race to prepare for his Two Oceans debut and left a happy man after besting some big names including Stephen Mokoka (second in 2:28:09) and his training partner Edward Mothibi (third in 2:30:05). Mosiane says his finishing time of 2:26:44 showed him that he is in good shape.
"I have been preparing well since December, so I came here to check my fitness level. It's going well because I was using this race to prepare for Two Oceans where I want to try my best. So this was a good race for me to see where my fitness is. The race was nice because last year I finished in second position with a time of 2:26. Coming to this year's race, my target was 2:30 because I didn’t want to put myself under pressure. So I was happy to run the same time as last year and end up winning the race. I'm happy," he told #TheTopRunner.
Coached by the legendary Dave Adams who is the driving force behind the unprecedented Nedbank Running Club Comrades Marathon success of the post-Covid era, the 26-year-old has been developing as an ultra star. Mosiane won the 2024 Tshwane North Ultra 50km, while placing second at the 2024 SA Run 4 Cancer Ultra Marathon last October. Mothibi who is mentoring Mosiane as the captain of Rustenburg-based Happy Bunch, says he is pleased to see how well their young charge is progressing.
"It's nice to see a young boy coming along. As you know, he will be running his first Two Oceans. I see he run under 2:30, which means the preparations are going well. It shows that he is on the right track and he will be ready for Two Oceans."
In the women's race Neheng Khatala underlined her credentials as a favourite to grab a podium position at the TotalSports Two Oceans Marathon. The Lesotho International was the only woman to break 2:50 as she crossed the finish line more than two and a half minutes ahead of defending champion Irvette van Zyl (2:51:04), while Zimbabwe's Rutendo Nyahora made it a Hollywood AC sweep of the women's podium by grabbing third in 2:54:18. Khatala who is The Mountain Kingdom's 10km national record holder (32:01), says after winning the equally brutal Africanbank Soweto Marathon last November, she realised that she would have to work on her strength and hill climbing ahead of her Two Oceans debut in April.
"I'm very happy. The race was tough. But we chose it because of the hills as we are preparing for Two Oceans. Since last year, coach and I have been working on my strength to make me strong for the hills at Two Oceans. So this performance tells me that our training is going well."
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