Ramakongoana and Mbhele win big with R100 000 earmarked for athlete development at Xcel Club Awards

In rewarding excellence, Xcel Running Club hosted their annual awards ceremony in Umhlanga on Saturday night (18 January) to honour top performers of the 2024 season. Olympian Tebello Ramakongoana was the big winner as he walked out with the club's Athlete of the Year award which was accompanied by a cheque of R5 000. Other winners included Comrades Marathon gold medalist Jenet Mbhele who was named best female athlete of the year and best female Comrades finisher, while Ayanda Ngcobo walked away with the best Comrades male finisher of the year.

A glamorous affair where former ASA President Aleck Skhosana was the guest of honour. Photo Credit: Xcel Running Club.

28-year-old Ramakongoana enjoyed a wonderful 2024, the highlight of which was placing seventh in Olympics Marathon in a scintillating 2:07:58. He also managed to beat a quality field to reigns supreme at the Hollywoodbets Durban 10km race in a lightning fast 28:01. Speaking through a recorded video, Ramakongoana who recently set a new Lesotho national marathon record when he produced a remarkable 2:06:18 to take second position at the Xiamen Marathon in China earlier this month, emphasised the importance of training. 

"I'm very happy that the club decided to honour me with this award. If I look where I come from to where I am at the moment, it wouldn't have happened without the support I got from the club. I encourage runners to put in hard work in training and stop complaining. I believe anything is possible in life if you work hard for it," said an elated Ramakongoana.

Xcel Co-Founder Sibusiso Cele receives a cheque of R100 000 to fund the club's development structures in 2025. Photo Credit: Xcel Running Club.

As Xcel serves as an elite development club, the youngsters were not left behind. The EThekwini Foundation donated a cheque of R100 000 to assist the red and navy blue army to buy running shoes for the future champions chasing their dreams in the club's development structures. Meanwhile, Mandla Mngomezulu, a co-founder of Xcel explained the thinking behind hosting the glamorous event, saying the idea is to acknowledge and celebrate the success of their runners. 

"For athletes who have performed well last year, they deserve the recognition so they will continue to excel. We strive to see them realising their potential and be the best athletes they can be in future. This is another reason we hosted an event in such beautiful place to make them feel special. Looking at what we have achieved as we are about to celebrate five years since we opened the club, I would say I'm very happy," he said. 

Duff pledged R250 000 for athletes to pursue tertiary studies at the Newbridge Graduate Institute. Photo Credit: Xcel Running Club.

There was more good news for the club's runners. Entrepreneur Craig Duff, owner of Newbridge Graduate Institute College announced that he has pledged a sum of R250 000 for two runners to enrol in a Sports Management course for free. Additionally, there are five runners who will be offered a learnership to attend the college. Duff, owner of BFC Pharma also ensured that supplements to the value of R15 000 were given to all the category winners.