The visitors found themselves leading the pack. South African runner, Sehohle Folavio won the men’s 21.1km race with a time of 1:07.59. Folavio said he arrived late at the venue and did not have time for a warm up.
“I panicked when I arrived late but I decided to remain calm and used the first two kilometers as warm up and read the race. Luckily I was in the company of a Kenyan athlete who I knew was a strong contender.
The game plan was to make a move in the last kilometers,” he said. Folavio also said there is a lot of talented athletes in Botswana and the only thing they need is to train hard for them to be able to win.
Kenyan, Albert Kangor, who finished in the second position, said he had competed in Botswana before. “It is always nice coming back here. I always improve my time when I race here. It was a flat course and the weather was permitting for us to have a fast race,” he said. The winner of the women’s half marathon is Gaone Bathoen of BDF Athletics Club.
She told Sport Monitor that it was her third time running 21.1km. “I did my first half marathon at the Phikwe Marathon and the second one in Palapye. In my first race I clocked 1:20.00 followed by 1:19.00 in Palapye and now I stopped the clock at 1:17.00,” she said.
Bathoen was impressed with the route but at the beginning of the race she held on to male runners for the first two kilometers. She said this gives her endurance and she sticks to the race until the finish line. In a twist of events, the junior team that is preparing for the upcoming Region 5 Games dominated men’s 10km race. The usual elite athletes were out of the top three.
The winner, Othusitse Gabolwelwe completed the race in 30:00 time. “In the last marathon I was doing 21.1km so coming here I had endurance. I just needed to focus on speed,” Gabolwelwe said. The chairperson of the Local Organising Committee (LOC), Major Alfred Phinias said he was impressed by the way the marathon turned out. “We are coming here after a two year hiatus.
We had a successful event because of the support we received from our sponsors, Mogoditshane village leadership and the residents. The funds that we raised will be donated to charity organisations in Mogoditshane,” he said.
