One would have thought that after last year’s fiasco the organisers of the Blue IQ half-marathon would have learned a thing or two, but this year’s race — which started and finished at Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown, Johannesburg, on Sunday — was no better.
The start was moved off the Nelson Mandela bridge into Bree Street and once again, the crowds could not be controlled and they hared off into the distance, 14 minutes ahead of schedule.
With the race under way, the inexplicable happened. The race referees in their infinite wisdom jumped in front of the masses at the 2km mark and stopped the race.
Everybody was herded back to the start, which by now was 200m ahead of where it should have been. The elite athletes, who had been shepherded into the front of the field at the initial false start, found themselves fighting with the recreational runners for position in the midfield.
When the race finally got under way, the media breathed a collective sigh of relief, only to have the traffic officers swearing at the media vehicle. Things went downhill from there.
Last year’s route was a nightmare; this year’s route was no better. The route doubled back on itself next to the Civic Centre in Braamfontein.
The almost mandatory traffic jam ensued and the lead pack, which was by now down to five, headed for the safety of the pavements.
The lead peloton included a BMW that would not start during the first aborted start and got stuck among the masses. This meant that traffic officers, the clock lead vehicle and the media truck only caught the bunch a kilometre later.
As if this was not enough, another traffic jam blocked the lead peloton inside the last half a kilometre. A tiny gap was left open and last year’s runner-up, Yusef Sangoka (Kenya), made no mistake and outsprinted teammate Luke Kibet to take the R175 000 first prize in 63,03. Kibet followed three seconds later.
”Last year my speed wasn’t as sharp and this year I was not taking a chance on being outsprinted. I trained specially for that,” the 22-year-old former pipeline fitter from Nairobi explained.
There was a huge surprise in third place as 22-year-old Cuthbert Nyasanga from Harare, Zimbabwe, chalked up his biggest prize purse to date, crossing the line in 63,21. He was followed home by Julius Kibet (Kenya, 63,30) and the first South African, Sylvester Moleko (Tuks), in 64,20.
The women’s race was one-way sailing for a 2002 New York Marathon runner-up from Russia, Liubov Dennisova, who stopped the clock on 74,23, ahead of Idawa Hussein (Tanzania, 75,12), Rose Nyangacha (Tanzania, 75,20), Faithy Kamangila (Zimbabwe, 76,30), Ann Jelagat (Kenya, 77,08) and first local girl Paulina Phaho (HAC, 78,12).
With the elite athletes in, the tense atmosphere that preceded the race descended again, with near-riots from runners who had been given anything from incorrect medals to wrong-sized T-shirts. — Sapa