The only certainty of the 2024 edition of the Soweto Marathon next Sunday is that a new women’s champion will be crowned.
And while the men’s race might be considered fairly open, the women’s favourite in the absence of defending champion Irvette van Zyl, seems to be millionaire Ethiopian Tadu Nare, who bagged the generous seven-figure first prize at the inaugural Mpumalanga Marathon in September.
Her 2hr 37min winning time that day suggested the Nedbank running club athlete’s effort — despite the record payout — was little more than a training run, considering she has a 42.2km best of 2:17, some five minutes quicker than the South African record Glenrose Xaba clocked at the Cape Town Marathon last weekend.
Where the flatter Mother City route is all about speed, Soweto is about grit and pain, negotiating some 500 metres of ascent in the rarefied Highveld atmosphere, much of which comes over the final 15km.
Add to that the heat, which can take its toll on the elites even fairly early in the day, though the bulk of the field can look forward to a temperature spike of 32°C predicted for the day.
The finish this year returns to Nasrec, which will be softer on the legs of many of the more than 21,600 entrants who make this the biggest race in the country — although that benefit kicks in only after the finish when exiting the venue, as opposed to negotiating the steps to get out of FNB Stadium.
Of the total entries 5,251 are doing the marathon, 8,020 the half-marathon and 8,377 the 10km.
Nare has been in fine form this year, winning the Nelson Mandela Bay half-marathon in June as well as the Spar 10km in Durban later that month, clocking 31:13 to beat second-placed Xaba and Van Zyl, who was sixth on the day.
Nare ended second behind Xaba at the 10km race in Tshwane and was third in Gqeberha and second in Johannesburg.
Without Van Zyl or Xaba in the field, her main competitors could include Lesotho’s Olympians, Neheng Khatala and Blandina Makatisi.
Khatala, with a best of 2:28:06, was only marginally slower than that at the Hamburg marathon in April, but it’s worth remembering that she went 2:33:15 to finish 20th in sweltering conditions at the Tokyo Games three years ago. Makatisi did her 2:30:20 best at the Paris Games in August to finish 31st overall, just one spot ahead of South Africa’s top-placed finisher Cian Oldknow.
The women’s best time of 2:33:43 is held by Van Zyl, who also owns the second and third fastest times.
The men’s race looks to be a far more open affair, although one danger is Nedbank’s Onalenna Khonkobe, the 28-year-old Two Oceans 56km champion. He has also clinched two half-marathon wins this year, taking the Dis-Chem in 1:05:41 and the challenging N12 at Klerksdorp earlier this month in 1:03:56, which suggests he’s in good form.
Khonkobe is up against defending champion Ntsindiso Mphakathi of Entsika AC who last year became the first South African winner of the Soweto race in 12 years. Then there’s Lesotho veteran Jobo Khatoane, who pocketed the R1m men’s cheque for his recent Mpumalanga victory.
Zimbabwean Givemore Mudziganyama — perhaps best known for winning the Two Oceans on debut in 2023 — is another contender. Also in the mix is two-time Comrades champion Tete Dijane, who owned the down runs of 2022 and 2023. His Nedbank teammate Edward Mothibi, the 2019 Comrades king, is also among the entrants.
Normally, the ultra-marathon specialists wouldn’t be considered front-runners in a marathon, but on the tough Soweto circuit they cannot be discounted.
The men’s best time is 2:16:28, courtesy of Kenyan Shadrack Kipchirchir Kemboi in 2016.
The winners will pocket R250,000 each.
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