Seutloali completes famous double as Steyn shines on Soweto debut

In a curious case of lightning striking twice, Joseph Seutloali completed a road-running double by adding the African Bank Soweto Marathon title to the Totalsports Two Oceans one he won earlier in the year.

The Lesotho native, who runs for Hollywood Athletics Club, crossed the finish line in 2:20:09, duly making up for last year’s disappointment when he bottled it – losing out to Onalenna Khonkhobe in the final two kilometres having looked likely to reign supreme in the People’s Race.

He got it right this morning in cool and wet conditions as he exacted sweet revenge on the popular Nedbank Running Club star Khonkhobe, who had to settle for third place – 30 seconds behind Seutloali. Former champion Ntsindiso Mphakathi was second in 2:20:24. Seutloali’s feat of completing the double matches that achieved by Khonkhobe last year.

In the women’s race, the highly anticipated battle for glory between Gerda Steyn and Irvette van Zyl was somewhat overshadowed by the foreign brigade, with Kenya’s Margaret Jepchumba winning in 2:34:33 ahead of Elizabeth Mokoloma (2:35:59).

But Steyn, making her debut in the People’s Race, once again showed Van Zyl a clean pair of heels as she got what she termed a “small win”. Van Zyl, the queen of the Soweto Marathon with four victories – one of which came when she was pregnant – finished in fourth place.

“It was a wonderful first experience here in Soweto,” Steyn told the media immediately after crossing the finish line. “I have been wanting to run the People’s Race for such a long time. I am always proud to run on home soil, and not having the Soweto Marathon under my belt was a missing item.”

The popular runner, fondly referred to as The Smiling Assassin, acknowledged that the Soweto Marathon is as tough as it is generally made out to be.

“It was a tough race, from the gun-go the pace was really fast from the beginning, but I expected it to be like that. I think it was the most competitive field we have had at the Soweto Marathon in a long time. I did not expect anything less than that, but I am still proud of my performance. I’ve given my all today. I was the first South African to cross the line, and for me it is like a small win, although I am a little disappointed not to finish first. But it was a fair race.”

Seutloali’s delight knew no bounds: “I am very happy and proud to have won this race after finishing second last year. And I am even prouder to have completed the double, and I want to thank my club, my sponsor and all the Basotho people.”