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Writer's pictureThathe Msimango

Tshabalala defends his K-Way SkyRun 100k title

Simon Tshabalala cemented his status as one of the leading mountain runners in South Africa when he successfully defended his K-Way SkyRun 100k title in a scintillating time of 13 hours 58 minutes 20 seconds over the weekend. Second place went to Zimbabwean Admire Muzopambwa in a time of 15:00:31, while Capetonian Erhard Blom settled for third position in 15:06:01. Tshabalala led the 3-day race run in the Witteberg Mountains on the border of Lesotho and South Africa right from 25km to the end.

Speaking to #TheTopRunner, Tshabalala was delighted with his performance especially after picking an injury three weeks before the race. "I'm over the moon with the way I have performed. I have surprised myself a bit especially having an injury close to the race," He said.

"The route was tough since it has been raining so it was slippery and the grass had grown too much. But I managed to overcome all those challenges to successfully defend the title I won last year. To win it twice gives me a good feeling. This is one of the most special victories of my career."

The 42-year-old athlete who hails from Free State Province is coached by legendary mountain runner Lucky Miya, also a former winner of the K-Way SkyRun in 2017. Tshabalala has enjoyed some good results this year including coming second in the Drankernsberg 160k Ultra-trail. Despite these performances though, the man who runs in the colours of Run Zone Athletics Club believes he has underachieved compared to what he did in 2021.

"Coming from last year, I had a fabulous year and I intended to continue where I left off. But I don't think I have done well this year compared to last year because I also suffered with an injury that derailed my progress a bit. I will come back stronger next year. I'm going to rest for a bit and then come back to compete again," he concluded.

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