Mokgobu and Phalula crowned CGA 21km champions

Desmond Mokgobu is Central Gauteng Athletics' half marathon champion for 2021 after wining the first official 21.1km road race run in the province in over a year this morning. The Entsika Running Club athlete out-sprinted his Zoo Lake Training Group teammate Precious Mashele crossing the finish line in 1:04:38 to win by just a second with Gladwin Mzazi taking third in 1:05:35. Mokgobu's performance comes just three weeks before the SA half Marathon Championships which are scheduled to take place in Port Elizabeth on 1 May.

It is for that reason that Mashele who is very much the middle distance man of the moment after going sub 28 minutes over 10 000m last month, says he took it easy. "The race was good. We took it as a tempo run because we are preparing for the SA Half Marathon plus I may run a 5 000m race in Durban on Cape Town to try and qualify for the Olympics. So we took it easy so I could save my energy," said The Machine.

The women's race was won by Olympian Lebo Phalula who finished more than three minutes ahead of her twin sister Lebogang as Cornelia Joubert settled for third as Boxer Athletics Club swept the podium. The women who represented South Africa in the 2016 Olympic Marathon is focusing on shorter distances at the moment and says the race formed part of her preparations to run a good 5 000m."I told them my teammates that I am going to run with them to 5km and then push as hard as I can which is what I did," she explained.

For their efforts, Mokgobu and Phalula took home R3000, with R1500 reserved for the runner-up and the third-place runners taking R500. “We know that these are difficult times and the money is not enough, but it is our way of thanking the runners and encouraging them to keep ongoing. We understand the issues of transport and other logistics, but we are offering them the chance to run the first road race in a long time," said CGA President James Moloi.

Boxer Athletic Club's Kabelo Seboko won the men's 10km race (30:35) while Entsika's Cacisile Sosibo (36:57) was crowned women's 10km champions.