"My body is only beginning to recover now" - Seloyi feeling confident again after Region 5 and Kimberley Marathon victories
Just seven days after defending his title at the Diamonds and Dorings Kimberley Big Hole Marathon, Bennet Seloyi delivered a memorable fight back to win the 21km race at the Region 5 Marathon in Pretoria on Sunday 1 November. Representing South Africa in the regional competition which featured ninety elite athletes from Malawi, Lesotho, Eswatini, Namibia and Botswana, Seloyi came from behind to pass the Nedbank Running Club’s Stephen Ngigi Kangethe inside the last 3km to win the race in 1:04:39.
“It was quite tough because of the hot conditions. I saw him looking back every few seconds which showed me that he was tired,” he told media just after crossing the finish line on day where the mercury touched 34 degrees celsius in the South African capital. “I used that to my advantage and kicked hard. I felt very good in the last 2km so I told myself to go all out. That’s how I won the race.”
“This is huge for me because I have struggling a lot over the last few months. My body is only beginning to recover now. I ran a marathon (in Kimberley) last week, so I just came here to pick up the speed because I know I have the power. This victory and my win last week means a lot to me. It means I am coming back,” said the 2025 SA Marathon champion
who clocked 2:15:52 to win last weekend’s 42km race in the Northern Cape ahead of Onalenna Khonkhobe.
Kenya’s Kangethe, competing as an individual in the mass participation event, was the only other athlete to break the 65 minute barrier as he clocked 1:04:59 for second place, while Simon Matias of Namibia was third in 1:05:25.
In the women's 21km event, Namibian star Lavina Haitope turned the tables on South Africa’s Irvette van Zyl. Haitope, who finished second behind Van Zyl in last year's race, produced a late surge in the undulating closing stages, to go past both Karabo Mailula and Van Zyl as she took line honours in 1:14:41. The reigning Totalsports Two Oceans champion took fourteen seconds off Van Zyl’s winning time, to register a new course record as Van Zyl finished second in 1:15:16, and her compatriot Mailula ended third in 1:15:46. Because she had to be taken straight from the finish to the medical tent after the hot conditions took their toll on her, Haitope was unable to speak to the media but has since made a full recovery.
Over shorter distances, South African athletes Chris Mhlanga (29:48) and Glenrose Xaba (33:48) won the men's and women's 10km races. The 5km contests were also won by South Africans, with Modupi Tladi retaining the men's title he won last year by stopping the clock at 13:53, and Carina Swiegers claiming top honours in the women's event in 17:19. Seloyi, Mhlanga, Xaba, Tladi and Swiegers all belong to the Boxer Athletic Club which underlines the team’s dominance over the middle and long distances.
In the 1-mile (1.6km) wheelchair race for athletes with disabilities, Roodly Gowaseb of Namibia successfully defended the title he won last year in 5:37. South Africa’s Humbulani Maano won the women’s wheelchair race in 10:38.
Over 5200 athletes, including elite and social runners, participated in the 2026 Region 5 Marathon. The race was a joint venture between the African Union Sports Council (AUSC) Region 5; the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC); the Gauteng Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation; the City of Tshwane; the Southern African Confederation of Athletics (SACA); and hosts Athletics South Africa (ASA). The event was made possible with additional support from Toyota and aQuellé.
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