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Home / Johannes comes second in Cape Town Marathon... bags N$130,000 in prize money

Johannes comes second in Cape Town Marathon... bags N$130,000 in prize money

2017-09-19  Staff Report 2

Johannes comes second in Cape Town Marathon... bags N$130,000 in prize money
Otniel Hembapu Windhoek-Namibia’s veteran long distance runner, Helalia Johannes, narrowly missed out on a decisive win at the grueling Sanlam Cape Town Marathon after she finished second overall, just six seconds behind winner Betelhem Moges of Ethiopia. The Namibian marathon queen set the pace early on in the race, as she went out at a blistering pace, strongly leaping away from the chasing pack of equally strong competitors. By the halfway mark, Johannes had already kept a good time of 1:15.22. With about 2 kilometres to the finish line, Johannes started slowing down, but was however still in full control of the race. As the finish line drew closer, the highly experienced chasing pack of Fantu Jimma, Betelhem Moges, Meserey Asefan and Agnes Kiprop started seriously closing in on her and were soon breathing heavily down the neck of the Namibian athlete. With less than a kilometer to the rope, Johannes’ strength appeared to be waning as she was unexpectedly caught by Ethiopia’s evergreen Betelhem Moges, who then strongly accelerated her pace to show the Namibian a clean pair of heels as she crossed the line in an impressive time of 2:30:22, with Johannes taking second place (2:30.28), while Kenya’s Agnes Kiprop came in third place, clocking 2:31.00. For claiming podium positions, winner Moges pocketed N$265,000 in prize monies, while Johannes walked away with a cool N$130,000 for finishing second. Third place finisher Kiprop took home N$70,000. Meanwhile, the men’s marathon race was won by Ethiopia’s Asefa Negewu, who successfully defended his Cape Town Marathon title, destroying a strong field of top marathoners to cross the line in 2:10.01. In second place was Ketema Negasa (2:11.06 ) and Duncan Maiyo (2:11.26) in third position. Winners of the men’s race also walked away with similar prize monies, as their female counterparts and were rewarded in the same order. The Sanlam Cape Town Marathon is a city-wide marathon (42.2-km) held in Cape Town, South Africa and is sponsored by Sanlam, the City of Cape Town and Vital Health Foods. Prior to its current format, the Cape Town Marathon was organised by Celtic Harriers running club. It started and finished in Pinelands and was first introduced in 1994. This was then followed by a separately organised marathon, also held in Cape Town in 2005 and 2006. The first Cape Town Marathon, in its current format was run in 2007. From 2007 to 2009, the race was organised by Western Province Athletics, under a corporate sponsorship agreement with the national federation, Athletics South Africa. From 2014, its name changed to the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon and it is administered through a joint partnership between Western Province Athletics, the City of Cape Town and Asem Running. The event includes the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon (42 km); the Sanlam Cape Town 10 km PEACE RUN / Walk, the Sanlam Cape Town Peace Trail Runs (12 km & 22 km) and a Community Fun Run (4.2 km). In 2014 and 2015 it was accredited with IAAF Silver Label status and with this year’s edition, it became the first African marathon to achieve IAAF Gold Label Status.
2017-09-19  Staff Report 2

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