FRANK POOE successfully defended his South African marathon title in Cape Town on Sunday, but failed to run a time that will assure him a place in the national team for the World Championships. The 24-year-old clocked 2:12:40 to beat provincial teammate John Monyatso by two seconds and another Central Gauteng athlete, Joshua Peterson. Pooe missed Athletics South Africa’s (ASA) qualifying mark for the Seville World championships by 1 minute 40 seconds after a headwind ruined his progress over the final seven kilometres. Olympic 1500m finalist Gwen Griffiths, competing in her first marathon, was an easy winner of the women’s race clocking 2:36:25 seconds, well short of the ASA qualifying standard of 2:32.