David Gatebe and Charne Bosman held the South African flag high yesterday with their respective wins in the Comrades Marathon.
However, the 91st edition of the world's biggest ultra marathon was never going to be complete without a landmark being set and a monumental late collapse.
With his time of 5:18:19, Gatebe obliterated Leonid Shvetzov's 2007 down run record of 5:20:39 with an ease that belied the notoriously nasty nature of the down run. Bosman won in a time of 6:25:55.
The softly spoken 35-year-old Implats sports recreation officer said he did not have the record in mind but knew it was for the taking when he found strength in the last 35km.
“I know the race was very difficult and the competition was tough but when I got to the last 35km, I felt that I could break the record because it is owned by a Russian and it needed to return to a South African. When I got to the 35km mark, that's when I knew I could go for the record. When I passed Teboho Sello, I started to believe the record was there for the taking then I saw the time on the car.”
The Jekyll and Hyde nature of the visually easy but physically demanding course played out during Caroline Wostmann's meltdown in the last 10km.
Having burnt her way through most of the race, her legs imploded on her after she completed the unrelenting Field’s Hill descent in Pinetown.
Wostmann had warned about the down run’s notoriety in the last 20km and her words came back to haunt her.
She was walking from the 45th cutting as her legs gave in and they could not carry her to the finish. Such was the lack of power in her limbs, she collided with the accompanying bikes just past the 10km mark in Sherwood and nearly caused an accident. It was a messy foretaste of the drama that was to follow.
While she tried her best to run through the final stretch on the N3 with its gentle hills, it was as if Bosman could smell blood in the water.
Spurred on by a vociferous crowd in the last 10km, Bosman strode past Wostmann on entering the CBD and streaked away to Kingsmead while a shocked Wostmann could only look on in despair.
As Wostmann faded, Bosman found extra gas to finish the race powerfully and claimed her first title in the process.
The race took such a toll on Wostmann, she had to be stretchered away from the finish after hugging Bosman.
Wostmann finished in a time of 6:30:44; Kajsa Berg from Sweden rounded off the women’s top three in a time of 6:39:04.
Gatebe’s race was not straightforward as a series of pacemakers took turns maintaining what was a brisk pace in perfect running conditions.
The leaders started to take shape at the halfway mark in Drummond where Mike Fokoroni and Teboho Sello kept the leaders on their toes.
It was at Botha’s Hill where Gatebe took charge, leaving second-placed Ludwick Mamabolo and defending champion Bongmusa Mthembu.
The duo finished with times of 5:24:05 and 5:26:39 respectively. On any other day, they would have been first and second but it was Gatebe’s day.
Gatebe breaks record for SA
However, the 91st edition of the world's biggest ultra marathon was never going to be complete without a landmark being set and a monumental late collapse.
With his time of 5:18:19, Gatebe obliterated Leonid Shvetzov's 2007 down run record of 5:20:39 with an ease that belied the notoriously nasty nature of the down run. Bosman won in a time of 6:25:55.
The softly spoken 35-year-old Implats sports recreation officer said he did not have the record in mind but knew it was for the taking when he found strength in the last 35km.
“I know the race was very difficult and the competition was tough but when I got to the last 35km, I felt that I could break the record because it is owned by a Russian and it needed to return to a South African. When I got to the 35km mark, that's when I knew I could go for the record. When I passed Teboho Sello, I started to believe the record was there for the taking then I saw the time on the car.”
The Jekyll and Hyde nature of the visually easy but physically demanding course played out during Caroline Wostmann's meltdown in the last 10km.
Having burnt her way through most of the race, her legs imploded on her after she completed the unrelenting Field’s Hill descent in Pinetown.
Wostmann had warned about the down run’s notoriety in the last 20km and her words came back to haunt her.
She was walking from the 45th cutting as her legs gave in and they could not carry her to the finish. Such was the lack of power in her limbs, she collided with the accompanying bikes just past the 10km mark in Sherwood and nearly caused an accident. It was a messy foretaste of the drama that was to follow.
While she tried her best to run through the final stretch on the N3 with its gentle hills, it was as if Bosman could smell blood in the water.
Spurred on by a vociferous crowd in the last 10km, Bosman strode past Wostmann on entering the CBD and streaked away to Kingsmead while a shocked Wostmann could only look on in despair.
As Wostmann faded, Bosman found extra gas to finish the race powerfully and claimed her first title in the process.
The race took such a toll on Wostmann, she had to be stretchered away from the finish after hugging Bosman.
Wostmann finished in a time of 6:30:44; Kajsa Berg from Sweden rounded off the women’s top three in a time of 6:39:04.
Gatebe’s race was not straightforward as a series of pacemakers took turns maintaining what was a brisk pace in perfect running conditions.
The leaders started to take shape at the halfway mark in Drummond where Mike Fokoroni and Teboho Sello kept the leaders on their toes.
It was at Botha’s Hill where Gatebe took charge, leaving second-placed Ludwick Mamabolo and defending champion Bongmusa Mthembu.
The duo finished with times of 5:24:05 and 5:26:39 respectively. On any other day, they would have been first and second but it was Gatebe’s day.
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