adminPietermaritzburg – Gift Kelehe was a picture of relief and delight as he won his first Comrades Marathon yesterday in a time of 5 hours 38 minutes 35 seconds.
Caroline Wostmann made it a double for South Africa when she blitzed the women’s field, finishing in a time of 6hrs 12min 20sec.
The second woman home was also local – Charne Bosman finishing a whopping 20 minutes and some change behind Wostmann.
Kelehe had been identified as one of the pre-race favourites, having won three gold medals before yesterday’s race.
Kelehe beat a field of 16,584 runners that started the race finishing seven minutes and 39 seconds ahead of second placed Ethiopian Mohammed Husien.
Third went to South Africa’s Hatiwande Nyamande.
It wasn’t the race record everybody was hoping for, but Kelehe made history of his own by winning 14 years after his older brother Andrew Kelehe won the down run in 2001. It is the first time in the history of the race that two brothers have won Comrades.
Kelehe made his move to take the lead just outside of Camperdown with about 25km to go and he never looked back, powering his way up Polly Shorts to hold on for the most memorable day of his running career and a R375,000 cheque.
As he entered the Oval, the crowd was hysterical and there was a special moment immediately after he broke the tape as Andrew embraced Gift and the brothers made history.
They say that there is no substitute for hard work, and Comrades 2015 winner Gift Kelehe has proved that.
The 33-year-old joined his brother Andrew as a champion of the ultra-distance race yesterday, but it didn’t come easy.
Kelehe works as a policeman in Rustenburg, and because of his hours, he has to find time to train.
Kelehe revealed that he had been running around 250km a week in the build-up to the race.
Having already won three gold medals prior to Sunday, Kelehe has now reached the pinnacle.
Kelehe only moved into the lead with a little over 25km remaining in the race, just outside of Camperdown, but he says he never felt under pressure.
Kelehe looked in good shape for somebody who had just run 87km.
“My body feels fine,” he said calmly.
Zimbabwean runner Stephen Muzhingi finished 8th in a time of 5:56:36, some 18,01 minutes slower than Kelehe. Muzhingi’s average speed was clocked at 4:04 minutes per kilometre compared to race winner Kelehe, whose average was 3:52 minutes per kilometre. — Sport24/Sports Reporter.
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