The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: A Year in South African Road Running

Tete Dijana redeemed himself in the Comrades Marathon after a painful run last year; Gerda Steyn reigned supreme yet again; Glenrose Xaba’s star continued to rise; Elroy Gelant usurped an ‘oom’ as the country’s foremost marathon runner.

What a year of road running we’ve had. Road Running writer Matshelane Mamabolo reflects on the year and is pained by the death of a runner stuck by a car at the Soweto Marathon and would love to see the ASA leadership cleaning up their act in the upcoming year.

THE GOOD

Elroy you Beauty! After a superb 2024 in which he won the national marathon title and ran like the wind in the popular Absa Run Your City Series and every other race while also representing the country well in the Olympics Marathon, Elroy Gelant continued with his great form this year.

The man from Pacaltsdorp in George was in scintillating form as he broke the near three decades old national record set by Gert Thys way back in 1999. Gelant shaved a good 57 seconds off “oom Thys’s” 2:06:33 to set the new mark of 2:05:36 at the Hamburg Marathon in April to cement his standing as a legend of South African road running.

Gelant’s Boxer Athletic Club running teammate Glenrose Xaba continued with her impressive rise to legend-hood with dominant runs in both the Absa Run Your City Series plus the women only Spar Grand Prix Series which she won yet again.

Xaba also did superbly to win the national half marathon championships in hot conditions out in Phalaborwa. A holder of South Africa’s women’s marathon record – 2:22:22 – the lass from Mpumalanga closed the year off with a superb international marathon debut when she finished sixth in a super time of 2:23:22.

South African road running prides itself on being super in the ultra distances and Gerda Steyn shone brightly yet again as she continued her dominance of the Two Oceans and Comrades Marathons both of which she won with consummate ease.

She was essentially forced to run the Soweto Marathon for the first time in November and while she lost out to international competition, her third place finish – the first South African to cross the line – was a highlight and indication of her incredible talent.

Tete Dijana excited South Africans by gaining sweet revenge on Dutchman Piet Wiersma in the Comrades Marathon Down Run after his Nedbank Running Club teammate beat him in the Up Run last year.

THE BAD

While our athletes shone on the road and the competitions were a success, the leadership shenanigans served to tarnish the sport somewhat.

The news that Athletics South Africa (ASA) president James Moloi misused the governing body’s credit card so much that he was hauled to the parliament to answer to the Sport Portfolio Committee confirmed the dearth of sound leadership.

It is a limitation that undermines the athletes’ efforts and puts a damper on what has been an overall good year.

The cancellation of the Cape Town Marathon a few hours before the race could start was also a disappointment which will hopefully not rob us of becoming the first African country to have a World Abbotts’ Major Marathon.

With thousands of runners having converged on the Mother City, inclement weather forced the organizers to call the race off leaving a lot of the athletes and their managers livid.

Some of them, like the renowned Nick Bester of Nedbank Running Club felt the organizers were too hasty to call the race off given that the weather had cleared up at about 8am and that they could have postponed the start instead.

Of course, the organizers argued otherwise and said they could not risk the safety of the runners. They were apparently praised by Abbotts’ for putting runners first and that could well count in their favour when the race undergoes final evaluation next May for the Makor status.

THE UGLY

The Soweto Marathon is supposed to be the pride of South Africa’s road running, a race beloved by the people. And boy do the runners love it despite it being considered the country’s toughest standard marathon. Yet every year, without fail, the People’s Race and controversy remain great bedfellows.

The battle for its ownership never ceases and it was no different this year as a disgruntled member of Soweto Marathon Trust threatened to stop the race. Of course, he failed and the race went on successfully. But not without an incident that will linger for years to come.

Just last week, a runner who was hit by a taxi during the race succumbed to the injuries and lost her life. Deziree du Plessis breathed her last breath having been in hospital since the accident on November 29 and also undergoing surgery due to bleeding on the brain.

Her death is a blot on a race that had come to be liked for giving runners the township experience, made worse by the fact that prior to the event the organizers had spoken proudly about their collaboration with the taxi industry who’d promised runners’ safety.

But every year, runners always have to negotiate their way through traffic and while many drivers are patient and often honk their car horns in encouragement, there are some – like the bugger who struck Du Plessis and should rot in jail – who have no respect for the athletes.

Du Plessis’ death should not be in vain. The Soweto Marathon must prioritise runners’ safety in the next year. And one way to do this must be to return the race to its original date of the first Sunday of November because running it on a month-end Saturday in the sprawling township is just not on.