By VUSI KAMA

North West Premier Kaobitsa Bushy Maape has hailed the N12 Ultra Marathon as a golden opportunity for both athletes and small businesses in the province. The marathon is jointly organised by the North West Department of Arts, Culture, Sports and Recreation (ACSR), the City of Matlosana, JB Marks Local Municipality, Dr Kenneth Kaunda District Municipality, and Coca-Cola.  

“The N12 Ultra Marathon was a success in its inaugural year in 2022. It is scheduled to take place again on April 29. Economies of major cities around the world are developed through events, and sport drives most of tourism.

“The hosting of the N12 Ultra Marathon will provide athletes with opportunities while promoting the involvement of small business in sports,” he said.

Maape further said the resounding success of the inaugural North West N12 Ultra marathon positively impacted the sporting landscape in the province. He added that, the event has become a flagship project of the province.

“The race’s stature has been elevated, with the Comrades Marathon organisers, declaring it as one of the qualifier races for the Ultimate Human Race.

“The starting point was at the North West University (Potchefstroom campus), with the finish line at the Klerksdorp Recreation Centre. In this year’s race, the starting and finishing points will be the other way round,” said Maape.

The event comprising 5km, 10km, 21km, and 50km races – took place under ideal cool weather conditions. It attracted more than 2 000 runners, including some from as far as Zimbabwe and Ethiopia.

According to Maape, the N12 Ultra Marathon is the first of its kind in the province. He said from a tourism point of view, Lodges, and Hotels in both Klerksdorp and Potchefstroom are benefiting.

“Although the well-oiled Ethiopian long-distance machine came in all its glory by taking the top spots in both the male and female N12 Ultra Marathon races, two athletes from North West also made it to the podium.

“Thomas Toodi (23) from Klerksdorp came second in the men’s race followed by Johannesburg-based Zimbabwean national, Givemore Mudzinganyama 32),” he said.

Meanwhile, the Potchefstroom-based athlete, Adele Broodryk (31) made good of her preparations for the Comrades Marathon by being the second lady to hit the finish line with a time of 3:08:30.7. She was followed by Melissa Jansen Van Vuuren (27), who clocked 3:17:05.8.

However, as it has become a norm in the N12 Ultra Marathon race circles, the stars of the show were the Ethiopians. Sintayehu Yinesu (31) claimed the crown as the king of the N12 by clocking a cool 2:33:52, while fellow Ethiopian, Laketh Seba who trotted home with the women’s crown in 3:08:08 after pipping Broodryk in the final metres of the race.

Among the attendees, was a retired legendary North West long-distance runner, Matthews Temane.

Temane said: “The marathon was good and I am happy it took place. However, there is a lot of work to be done to make it even better.”

A triple athletics springbok, the retired runner excelled in races ranging from 800m to Comrades Ultra Marathon. In one of his famous runs, he broke the 21km world record in East London, during the 1990s.

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