"We are trying to keep athletes in the shorter distances for longer" - Morepe wins inaugural Phantane Durban Street Mile

Celebrated as a success, the inaugural Phantane Durban Street Mile brought together some of South Africa's most prominent middle distance stars, and it was Johannes Morepe who came out on top. The 21-year-old got the best of a quality field including reigning SA 5000m champion Jerry Matsau. The 1500m specialist clocked 4:06 to edge out Abraham Kubjane in a close finish where both men were credited with the same finishing time. Matsau was the third man to cross the finish line at the Hollywoodbets Greyille Racecourse in 4:13 on Sunday 31 May.

Speaking to #TheTopRunner after the victory, Morepe who has struggled to make his presence felt in the since ranks after representing the country at both the 2022 and 2024 World Athletics U20 Championships, says this performances feels like a turning point.

Morepe in action. Photo Credit: Sepeng Project.

"It feels great to be back on my feet again since I was out for a while with injury," explains the man who set his 3:40.73 lifetime best back in 2024. "I had to start from scratch and build everything again with patience. If I can get more races, maybe one or two in Europe then I'll soon be back representing SA again. With the support of my training group and coach, I believe there's more to come," says Morepe who was a prolific junior at Vorentoe High School before joining coach Samuel Sepeng's training group.

The women's street mile went according to the script as reigning African and SA 1500m champion Karabo More dominated the event to walk away with a cheque of R8000. More stopped the clock in 4:40 to finish seven seconds ahead of Ntsoaki Molahloe as Kuhle Bebeza took third in 5:14. Second and third earned R5000 and R3500 respectively.

Morepe has been training hard and is beginning to rediscover the form that made him one of South Africa's best youth and junior athletes between 2022 and 2024. The 21-year-old clocked 3:41.71 over 1500m at the Cape Milers Continental Tour Meet in Stellenbosch in April - the second fastest time of his career. Photo Credit: Sepeng Project.

In all, a total prize purse of R85 000 was on offer, R40 000 was reserved for the one mile invitational races. Founder and race director of the Phantane Durban Street Mile Mdu Khumalo, who got 1500m Olympian Ryan Mphahlele to join his club Phantane at the end of 2025, explains that the allocation of prize money is based on a developmental approach. They aim is to encourage and keep athletes participating in the middle distances on the track as this will help to raise the standard of both track and road running in SA.

"It's really quite simple," Khumalo elaborates. "The reason we put more money in the mile is because we want to close the gap between developing athletes and athletes that are ready for the big stage. We are trying to keep athletes in the shorter distances for longer so we can have a bigger national pool for these distances where East Africans are dominant."

Morepe training with Tshegofatso Pilane at the University of Pretoria. Pilane won the 5km elite men's race. Photo Credit: Sepeng Project.

"The Boxer Athletic Club is the one club that has been consistently providing opportunities for SA track athletes to delay their transition to longer distances on the road. To be honest, Boxer's work has inspired me. They are doing good work. I also want to build that culture, especially in KwaZulu-Natal and that starts with putting more prize money into shorter distances like the mile, so that athletes think twice before entering the longer distances."

Mkhwanazi won the 10km event. Photo Credit: Mzwamandla Zondi.

In selected other results, Morepe's training partner Tshegofatso Pilane clocked a personal best 13:35 to win a hard fought 5km men's elite race ahead of the Boxer Athletic Club pair of Msawenkosi Mnisi (13:38) and the improving 21-year-old Zenzile Pheko 13:44. Bongelani Mkhwanazi produced 28:46 to win the men's 10km by four seconds from Cwenga Nose as Annie Bothma who finished as runner-up at last month's Durban International Marathon, won the women's 10km race (33:43) by over a minute.