Khonkhobe battles illness ahead of Two Oceans marathon title defence

ONALENNA KHONKHOBE was not feeling well on Tuesday. The defending champion of the Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon told Independent Media that while his training for the Mother City’s 56km ultra was on track, he had taken ill.

“I’m not feeling well, champ,” Khonkhobe said. “And because of that, I’m not sure if I will be able to defend my title.”

Despite this, the Nedbank Running Club athlete will toe the start line on Saturday as the favourite, given his victory last year. Khonkhobe won the race in 3:09:30, beating his teammate Lloyd Bosman into second place by 28 seconds, while then-title holder Givemore Mudzinganyama occupied the final podium place with 3:11:13.

Khonkhobe had confidently promised to emerge victorious, the runner from North West Province declaring at the pre-race conference that all the cameras would be fixed on him come race day. He lived up to that promise, beating the entire field to cross the UCT Sports Field finish line first.

Any notion that the victory was a fluke was smashed to pieces later in the year when Khonkhobe won the tough Soweto Marathon, confirming his status as one of the country’s top runners.

Though unwell in the lead-up to Saturday’s race, Khonkhobe has no intention of pulling out of the 54th running of the world’s most beautiful marathon, he said.

Whether he can hold on to his title is a question that can only be answered on race day. The Two Oceans Marathon is not only the world’s most beautiful marathon but also one of the toughest.

Except for the phenomenal Gerda Steyn, who is aiming for her sixth successive title, it has been two decades since anyone retained the men’s title. The last athlete to win back-to-back was Zimbabwean Marco Mambo, who reigned supreme in 2004 and 2005.

Khonkhobe has what it takes to be champion, and there is a possibility he could be engaging in gamesmanship to lull his opponents into a false sense of security. Such is his character.

The men’s start list for Saturday is packed with fantastic athletes, all capable of being crowned champion if the day goes in their favour.

Bosman, inspired by his runner-up finish last year, will be confident of going one better this time around. Hollywoodbets’ Nkosikhona Mhlakwana has previously occupied both the second and third spots on the podium and would love nothing more than to stand on the top step.

Mudzinganyama, having finished third the year after winning the race, has clearly figured out the 56km challenge. After his impressive top-ten finish in the longer Comrades Marathon, the Entsika athlete will be brimming with confidence when he lines up on Saturday.

Stephen Mokoka may not have completed the race on his debut last year — pulling out with about three kilometres to go because “it was rough” — but the legendary standard marathoner would have prepared much better this time and will be eager to ensure a clean sweep of the titles for Hollywood AC, as the women’s title is essentially guaranteed to go to the purple machine.

Totalsports have once again dangled a R250 000 carrot for any athlete who breaks the record. Steyn is likely to do that yet again in the women’s race.

But can the men’s record fall? That’s a tall order — the late Thompson Magawana’s 3:03:44 from way back in 1988 is an incredibly fast time that would take a supreme effort to beat.

It is not unbreakable, though. And with the likes of Khonkhobe in the mix, anything is possible.

The Cape Times is the official media partner of the Two Oceans.