by Stephen Granger
Four Olympic marathoners will join battle with an array of shorter-distance speedsters in the 2022 OUTsurance Gun Run in what is shaping up to be one of the premier races on the 2022 South African road running calendar.
Desmond Mokgobu (Entsika) and Sibusiso Nzima (Murray & Roberts) will be amongst the favourites in the men’s Gun Run Half Marathon while Gerda Steyn (adidas – University of Johannesburg) and Irvette van Zyl (Nedbank) will look to reprise their remarkable race in this year’s Two Oceans Marathon in the women’s. Another Olympian, Precious Mashele (5 000m at Tokyo Olympics), races in the Gun Run 10km. Mokgobu and Van Zyl are both eager to defend their titles, although Van Zyl’s participation depends on whether or not she is able to get a visa in time to race an international event in Europe.
While neither Mokgobu (Tokyo, 2021) or Nzima (Rio, 2016) will look back on their Olympic marathons with fondness, both have excelled in recent competition and boast formidable Gun Run records. Mokgobu broke the tape just 6 seconds ahead of Nzima in 1 hr 04 min 33 sec the last time the race was run in 2019, running on ‘tired legs’ just two weeks after the World Marathon Championship in Doha, and was over a minute faster in finishing second to four-time winner, David Manja, the year before.
Nzima also ran second to Manja at the Gun Run, demonstrating his consistency with his 1:04:45 in 2016 just 6 seconds slower than his 2019 effort. And while those times might be a minute off what could be needed for a 2022 Gun Run victory, Nzima has worked hard on his speed with coach Lindsey Parry. After winning a competitive Cape Peninsula Half Marathon in February, Nzima raced to a half marathon PB of 1:01:38 at the ASA Half Marathon Championships in Gqeberha in June this year.
“Yes, I’m coming down for the OUTsurance Gun Run 21km as my final preparations for the Cape Town Marathon,” Nzima (35) said this week. “I’m happy with my progress since I managed to run 1:01:38 at the SA half marathon Championships (just 36 sec behind gold medal winner Melikhaya Frans and 15 seconds down on Mokgobu) and 28:36 at the Run Your City Durban 10km in July.
“My preparations are going well so far after Coach Lindsey made some changes to my programme and my confidence and hunger is back. The last time I ran the Gun Run (2019) I was injured, and I believe this year my preparation has been better than in previous years. I’m looking forward to a good battle!”
But Nzima can expect no favours from Mokgobu, who like Nzima, is enjoying a rich vein of form and has had the better of his rival in two half marathons this year – the ASA Championship and the Two Oceans Half Marathon. Mokgobu lost out by just three seconds at the Oceans to Zimbabwean Moses Tarakinyu and one second to South African 5000m record-holder Elroy Galant in finishing third in 1:03:34.
Mokgobu has gone from strength to strength since linking up with former South African distance running great, Hendrick Ramaala. “Hendrick is like a father-figure in my life,” said Mokgobu, who runs for the Entsika Athletics Club, where Ramaala is the club-coach. “He always motivates us to do well and never gives up on us in anything we do.”
Ramaala is confident his charge will again succeed in two weeks’ time. “Desmond has been training well and he would like to defend the title from 2019,” Ramaala confirmed this week. “He is not doing Cape Town Marathon this year as we decided to skip the marathons and focus on 10km and 21km races and more training. He is healthy and stress-free. He has done well this year, running PBs at the ASA Half Marathon Championship and the Run Your City Cape Town 10km in May and is enjoying the sport more.”
Few who witnessed this year’s Two Oceans 56km Marathon will forget the greatest women’s race in the history of the event. Some of the strongest east African competition ever seen at the Oceans laid the platform for record-breaking performances by Steyn and Van Zyl. While Van Zyl bettered Frith van der Merwe’s long-standing record by three seconds, it proved bitter-sweet as she lost the race to Steyn, who powered into the lead just 3km from the finish to win almost a minute inside Van der Merwe’s previous mark.
Van Zyl, whose career had been dogged by injury woes from the time of a serious scooter accident at the age of 17, has enjoyed a new lease of competitive life on the roads following innovative ‘chondroplasty’ surgery on her knee in 2020 and linking up with coach Nick Bester. A marathon personal best of 2:28:40 in Italy last April, a world record for 50km at Gqeberha just over a month later and a superb Two Oceans Marathon four months ago are indicators that at 35 years of age the Pretoria athlete is at the peak of her career.
“The OUTsurance Gun Run was one of my most memorable races in 2019,” said Van Zyl. “Great atmosphere and organisation, which helped us to run top performances. It was definitely one of my best in 2019. It’s always great to race against Gerda and I hope we will be able to compete again at the Gun Run, but this will depend on a potential international event at the same time.”
Van Zyl turned the tables on Steyn in the SPAR 10km race in Durban in June, placing 4th in 33:03, 30 seconds ahead of Steyn, and while the depth of quality in this year’s Gun Run field suggests that Steyn and Van Zyl will need to run hard to clinch podium positions, the contest between the two Tokyo Olympics Marathon teammates will evoke significant interest.
Steyn reluctantly missed out on the Comrades Marathon last week with her decision to focus her training once again on the New York City Marathon, where she has enjoyed considerable success, having improved her personal best time by significant margins in 2018 (2:31:04) and 2019 (2:27:48). She is hoping that the OUTsurance Gun Run will help her to yet another personal best time in the Big Apple in November.
“I’m coming to Cape Town to run the Gun Run – it will be exactly seven weeks out from the NYC marathon, so I’ll be in the deep-end of my training block,” said Steyn from the French Alps, where she has been training for the past two months. “I have heard that the race has a great atmosphere, and I can’t wait to be part of it!
“I’m not planning to taper down for the Gun Run, but rather try to run my best effort on tired legs. I look forward to the challenge and also to doing the last month of my marathon training back in South Africa. I have always followed a similar build up to New York, but this is the first time that I have decided to incorporate the Gun Run into my preparation.”
Entries have closed for the half marathon,10km. and trail race but limited entries for the 5km fun run and 5km pet walk will be taken only on the 16th September at the following 6 Sportsmans Warehouse Stores – Tygervalley, Sea Point, V&A Waterfront, Rondebosch, Somerset West and Paarl.
