'I raced too much last year' - Khonkhobe to skip Comrades to focus on Two Oceans & fast 42,2km

Outlining his plans for 2026, Onalenna Khonkhobe made it plain that winning the Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon title and running a fast time over the standard marathon will be the focus of his season. For this reason the man who enthralled viewers for over four hours when he led the Comrades Marathon until the 73km mark, has decided to skip the 99th edition of The Ultimate Human Race in favour of the 56km race around the Cape Peninsula that he won in 2024 but failed to finish last year.

“I rested for most of December. But after my period of rest, my body didn’t struggle to get back into the rhythm of training. The mistake I made last year was that I raced too much - especially the long distances,” said the man who won the Prince Mangosuthu 52km in late April and the City 2 City 50km in September, before grabbing third place at the Africanbank Soweto Marathon on 20 November.  

Khonkhobe celebrates victory on debut at the 2025 City2City 50km ultramarathon. He says he raced too much last year. Photo Credit: Tobias Ginsberg.

“I ran many marathons and ultras. That was my mistake. Things will be different this year because I want to perform well and make sure that the Two Oceans title stays at home no matter what anyone says,” said the Klerksdorp native who hails from Taung in the North West Province referring to the 2025 edition of the Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon which was won by Lesotho's Jesph Seutloali.

By racing 56km on 11 April and skipping Comrades in June, the Nedbank Running Club top runner aims to be fresh enough to attempt a fast 42km race in the second of the year. And after claiming the bronze medal at the Athletics South Africa Half Marathon Championships in July and another at the SA 10km Championships in Bloemfontein in November in a lifetime best 29:07, the man who is coached by Piou Mpolokeng is confident that he can end the year as one of the country’s fastest marathon men.

Khonkhobe celebrates a bronze medal and PB at the national 10km championships. Photo Credit: CGA Media.

“The plan is to run the Absa RUN YOUR CITY GQEBERHA 10K where I must run 28 minutes. I’ve been promising you that performance for a long time, but this time I’m going to put it on the table. I’m confident because of the way I ran at the SA 10km Championships, where I believe that I should have run 28 minutes but I was too scared to go with Chris Mhlanga and the rest when they kicked. Getting third place there against 10km specialists showed me that I can do it.”

"After Two Oceans my wish is to rest a bit and then I’m hoping my team can find me a fast and flat marathon where I can even run 2:05 or 2:06. You see I have been inspired by Stephen Mokoka so I also want to feel the burn of the fast pace.”