‘Down run’ champion three year ago, Bongmusa Mthembu of South Africa added the ‘up’ run title to his collection when he won Sunday’s Comrades Marathon between Durban and Pietermaritzburg.
KwaZulu-Natal’s Mthembu covered the 87-kilometre route in 5hr 35min 34sec.
He was followed home by Hatiwande Nyamande from Zimbabwe (5:38.48) and previous winner Gift Kelehe, also from South Africa (5:41.48).
Mthembu ended third in last year’s down run.
He also took silver at the World 100km World Championship in Spain last year, where he beat Bruce Fordyce’s long-standing record by almost a minute.
Although he set an strong pace throughout, Mthembu was unable to beat the ‘up’ run record of 5:24:49, which was set in 2008 by Russian Leonid Shvetsov.
Running for Nedbank Club, Camille Herron from the USA won the women’s title in a time of 6:27:35, after leading almost the entire route.
She was followed home by Russia’s Alexandra Morozova in second (6:31:45), while SA’s Charne Bosman (also of Nedbank) came third in 6:39:51. Bosman won her first Comrades last year.
Picture of Mthembu crossing the tape courtesy of Anesh Debiky