'I'll be back' - Mmone eyes peak performance as top runners line up at Pirates 21K

After ending 2023 in positive fashion with a seventh place 2:21:24 finish at the Africanbank Soweto Marathon, Joel Mmone expected to kick on in 2024 and 2025. However, the Nedbank Running Club top runner who also ran inside 62 minutes for the half marathon that year, failed to replicate that form, spending almost two seasons without delivering a top ten finish in one of South Africa's recognised major 21km or 42km races. 

Mmone in action at the 2026 Biogen 21K presented by Momentum Multiply where he took 11th position in 1:10:56. Photo Credit: Action Photo.

"Last year I ran until about March and then I took a break to start preparing for the SA Half Marathon Championships. But because of the heat in Phalaborwa, I bailed and didn’t finish the race. Although I did win a few small races in Kimberley and Potchefstroom it is true that I didn't have a good performance in a big race," he told #TheTopRunner reflecting on a barren two seasons where his best performance was seventh position at the wet and windy 2024 Nelson Mandela Bay Half Marathon where he clocked 1:04:33 to finish less than forty seconds behind winner Elroy Gelant.

But things are changing in 2026. The 34-year-old who trains alongside Onalenna Khonkhobe in Klerksdorp is beginning to show glimpses of the form that took him to a 1:01:22 has marathon personal best in 2019 and saw him represent South Africa at the World Cross Country Championships. 

Mmone on the podium after winning the Efficient Group Klerksdorp Hal Marathon. Photo Credit: Supplied.

Mmone won the Ottosdal Draf en Trap 42km on 31 January in 2:29:38 and then followed that up with another win in the 21km event (1:10:13) at the Efficient Group Klerksdorp Half Marathon on February 8. Although slower than the clockings he has produced in the past, the man who is coached by Piou Mpolokeng is confident that he is well on his way to recapturing his best form - an assertion that will be tested against a quality field at the Pirates 21K powered by Medshield on Sunday 15 February.

"I think I will run well this year, especially after a good start at the Biogen 21k (1:10:52). And now that my preparation is in full swing and we will use races like the Pirates 21k to test our fitness because it is one of the tougher ones. I'll be back in the top ten again soon in the big races. Everything will be fine. I’m not worried."