Cape marathon winners set for World Championships

Marathon athletes who participated at last weekend’s, Sanlam Cape Town Marathon raised the flag high as they left a mark at the event, with most of them posting qualifying times for next year’s World Championships.
Five athletes namely, Reonard Namupala, Lavinia Haitope, Helaria Johannes and Alina Armas. With pace setters ensuring the race was quick up front, Asefa Negewo (Ethiopia) made history by breaking the long-standing fastest time set on South African soil over 42.2km, held previously by David Tsebe (2:09:50).
Reonard Namupala flew the flag high with time set at (2:18:31) earning him 16th position in the race out of an oddly large crowd that reached approximately 8000 participants. Namupala said that this was his season’s best and he is proud of his achievements considering that injuries often plague one’s career.
In the women’s version of the 42.2 km race, Haitope stood her ground and earned her position in the race with her record time at (2:40:50) and came in fifth. With her time she also manage to qualify and will feature in the World Championships.
Meanwhile in the 10km women’s race, Helaria Johannes came on top and completed the event in 00:32:44 while her compatriot Armas secured third position in 00:34:15.
“This was a wonderful experience for me and I am glad that I could place Namibia on the map and bring back the trophy and I also achieved a new Namibia record for the course,” said Johannes.
Armas said,“I was happy with what I achieved. It is not easy coming third in a tough marathon. My colleague, Johannes assisted me a lot to get my third position.”