Mokoka wins the Cape Town Marathon!

One of the leading athletes in South Africa in athletics, Stephen Mokoka, once again did what he is known for when he left the other runners in dust.

Mokoka rewrote the history books by becoming the champion of the Cape Town Marathon which is much loved by the runners of the world.

This race is held regularly in Cape Town and is divided according to distances to accommodate the runners’ differences. There is the 46km race, and there are 10km – 42km races.

Mokoka, 37, won again after running for 2:09:54. He was followed by Derseh Kindie Kassie who ran 2:11:26 and in third place was Dagnachew Adere Maru running 2:11:52.

After coming out on top, Mokoka admitted it was difficult. “It was very difficult to run this race. What made me happy is that I was able to finish ten kilometres ahead because it was very difficult. I struggled a lot with the District Six hill, but it was fun,” said Mokoka who is also an Olympic champion.

This athlete from Mahikeng, in the North West province, went to Cape Town with the desire to improve the time he had run in the past.

“Every time I come here; I always want to do better than before. Maybe I will eventually get two hours and a few seconds,” said Mokoka who is an accomplished long-distance runner.

On the ladies’ side, Mseret Dinke Meleka of Ethiopia won. “It was great to run in Cape Town. I had to run alone because there was no one by my side. It is not easy to run alone. It is a lot better when you compete with other runners, but I ran the way I planned,” said Meleka who ran for 2:24:02.

After her, Kenya’s Tecla Kirongo and Judith Cherono followed respectively.