Leemisa Thuseho
IT was a bad day in office for local athletes during the Absa Run Your City 10km
Race held in Durban, South Africa, as none of them was among the top five finishers.
The race was held on Sunday at the Durban beachfront promenade, and featured a star-studded line-up of both international and South African athletes in both the men’s and women’s fields.
However, none of the four locals who competed in the event made it to the
podium.
South Africa’s Kabelo Seboko made sure the gold medal stayed in
his country by finishing first with an impressive time of 27:56 minutes.
This category was dominated by South Africans as second spot was also
occupied by a local, Stephen Mokoka, who finished the race in 27:59minutes.
Lesotho’s best performer was Namakoe Nkhasi, who finished ninth in 28:31minutes, after coming second in last year’s edition of the race in a time of 27:52minutes.
Another Lesotho athlete, Ts’epo Ramashomole, settled for 14th position in a time of 28:52minutes, while Tukiso Motlomelo crossed the finish-line in 29:05 minutes, landing position 18.
In the female category, Lesotho’s favourite, ‘Neheng Khatala, finished sixth in 32:24 minutes. She was Lesotho’s only female runner in the race, which was won by Yalemzerf Yehualaw of Ethiopia in a time of 30:46 minutes. She beat Docas Ajok and Stella Chesang of Uganda who
occupied second and third positions after clocking 31:54minutes and 31:56 minutes, respectively.
Speaking to this publication this week, Nkhasi said despite the outcome, he was still happy with his performance because he was returning from injury.
Nkhasi had been nursing a leg injury since July last year and was out of competitions until last month when he took part in the Nelson Mandela Bay 21km race held in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape. In
that race, he finished 31st after clocking 1hr:04min:33sec.
“I think I had a good race despite not performing well. This was only my
second race since returning from that injury in July last year. Again, it was my first
10km race since then,” Nkhasi said.
“I didn’t expect to run that time as I’m in the process of regaining my form. I will need more races to increase my speed because as far as the injury is concerned, I think I am better now.”
