Durban - There are 677 reasons why David Gatebe’s Comrades Marathon down run record of 5:18:19 will still be standing after tomorrow’s 47th running of the race from Pietermaritzburg to Durban.
That is the extra distance in metres that runners must cover from the City Hall in Maritzburg to Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium this year as compared to back in 2016, when Gatebe slashed two and a half minutes off Leonid Shvetsov’s mark. Then, the race finished at the Kingsmead Stadium and Gatebe and Co ran 89.208km, instead of the 89.885km they will do this weekend.
It was thus not surprising that the record was not up for discussion at the elite athletes’ pre-race conference yesterday.
With the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) having significantly reduced prize money this year to R260 000, the incentive for runners to go all out for glory is no longer as big as before. Granted, they have put up the same amount for anyone who breaks not only Gatebe’s record, but also the 5:54:43 one set by Frith van der Merwe way back in 1989, when the distance was 89.600km.
But the longer distance will make it near impossible for the runners to improve those incredibly good times. Gatebe was cock-a-hoop, confident that his record would remain untouched.
While he has never scaled to anywhere near the heights of that 2016 run, which he ended spectacularly by performing 10 push-ups after crossing the finish line, Gatebe believes he is ready to win again.
“Maybe the rest was good,” he said of the two-year break from the normal running of Comrades due to the Covid-19 pandemic “The guys will approach my record. But it won’t be easy.”
The Impala Platinum athlete added just one more gold medal finish to that stupendous victory, but believes he is due another great run. He finished in 17th place last time around and says he was not racing for success back then.
The reality though is that Gatebe will have to replicate that 2016 form if he is to get anywhere near the title. And at 37, he could well be past his best and struggle to keep up with the likes of Edward Mothibi and Nkosikhona Mhlakwana, who are hot favourites for the title.
Mhlakwana, alongside three-time champion Bongmusa Mthembu, will enjoy hometown support from the fans and plan to use that to their advantage.
“It’s always a pleasure to have the fans cheering me on and I respect and love them,” Mthembu said.
Mhlakwana, renowned for having his legs bail on him a few metres from the finish back in 2019 when he was in ninth place, and ended up missing out on a top 10 that would have earned him gold, plans to use the crowd’s energy to propel him to a good time.
He and the rest of the male elites are going to need all the encouragement they can get if they are to not only win, but to get anywhere near Gatebe’s splendid record.
The women’s record had looked in danger earlier in the year when Gerda Steyn broke Van der Merwe’s 33-year-old Two Oceans Marathon mark back in April. But Steyn has opted to run the New York Marathon instead of Comrades. While there is an impressive line-up in the female race, none of them have the kind of speed to dethrone Van der Merwe as down run record holder.
@Tshiliboy