New era of club diversity looks set to dazzle at this weekend’s ‘Rainbow’ Two Oceans

Josh Groban sings powerfully of Changing Colours. It’s unlikely he was thinking about the Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon at the time he penned the lyrics, but it would not be inappropriate were he to welcome the thousands of running visitors to the Mother City this weekend with his 2015 classic.

The phalanx of runners jockeying for positions at the sharp end of the Two Oceans Ultra in the 70s and 80s typically resembled an artist’s palette, with a range of club colours representing clubs which were traditionally strong in ultra-marathoning.

The reds, blues, greens, yellows and greys of clubs such as organisers Celtic Harriers, Varsity Old Boys, Durban Athletics, Savages, Rand Athletics Club and Rocky Road Runners and a few mining clubs, such as Kinross and Bracken towards the latter part of that era, provided a visual feast for spectators along the route.

A new millennium signalled changes.  One was the colour of the lead runners’ kit in high profile marathons and ultra-marathons on South African roads, and Two Oceans in particular. Viewers watching big races live would have noticed the former diversity of colour increasingly replaced by a ‘green screen’, as Nedbank Running Club began to dominate.

At a time when professional athletes were struggling to find a supportive home, 1991 Comrades champion Nick Bester and his Nedbank team stepped into the breach and became the most dominant and successful professional running club on the continent.

The substantial benefits to athletes afforded by running in the bright green singlet of the South African bank, persuaded many elites and semi-elites to join the club, but it also transformed the aesthetics of the country’s highest-profile races.

But in recent years, paralleling the resurgence in distance running in South Africa, there has been a slow return to the artist’s palette, as the growth in the number of clubs offering a home for elite athletes translates into more colourful lead packs in top distance races.

Some, like Maxed Elite and Boxer have been around for many years.  Others, such as Phantane and Hollywood are more recent arrivals. But diverse sponsors are coming to the Southern African distance running party in greater numbers than ever before.  Good for competition, good for the sport.

The deep red of Maxed Elite, the bright red of Boxer Athletics Club, the yellow of Murray & Roberts, the grey and white of Entsika, the green and gold of Phantane and the ecclesiastical purple of Hollywood have brought back the diversity of the earlier years.

Not that Nedbank have gone backwards. They have redoubled their efforts in the face of stronger competition, again good for racing, good for the sport.  And Nedbank’s bagging the first three past the post in last year’s Comrades Marathon is a clear indication that Green still rules, at least in the longer ultra-marathons.

Nedbank’s past dominance in the Two Oceans, however, has dimmed in recent years.  In 2018, the Green Wave swept six runners into the top ten in the 56km, with one each from Entsika, Arthur Ford, Maxed Elite and Rocky Road Runners.  Last year there were just two, with Nedbank missing out on the podium altogether.

But two was still double the next best, with Hollywood, Maxed Elite, Phantane, Arthur Ford and Save Orion each contributing a single athlete to the top ten leaderboard.

Just who are these clubs and what are they likely to bring to the Two Oceans party this weekend, offering stiff competition to the dominance of Nedbank and, to a lesser extent, Murray & Roberts?

Maxed Elite

Maxed Elite is a Durban based club linked to Mr Price, open to ‘anyone who loves to have fun, has the drive to achieve some running goals, and is looking for a fitness journey that’s enjoyable too’.

The club includes both elite and social runners and currently supports a number of international athletes, notably the tall Ethiopian, Edndale Belachew, who broke the tape in last year’s Two Oceans Ultra to win by three seconds. Leban Nkoka, a previous Two Oceans champion, and his Lesotho compatriot, Teboho Noosi, are others likely to feature prominently in this year’s race.

Boxer

Another Durban-based club, Boxer, is the closest colour match to Maxed Elite, but their hue and running speed are distinctive, with some of the country’s finest marathon and shorter distance athletes tethered at their stable.

Stephen Mokoka, Precious Mashele, Elroy Gelant and Gladwin Mzazi among the men and Glenrose Xaba, Cornelia Joubert and the Phalula twins Lebogang and Diana Lebo are the cream of the crop of shorter-distance South African athletes and a number of these will be in action in the Oceans Half Marathon, proudly sporting their Boxer-red gear.

Cape-Town based Tanith Maxwell, is a notable Boxer exception, with the former Olympian now focused on ultra-distance. Not being race-ready following recent surgery, Maxwell’s focus is likely to be on next year’s Two Oceans Marathon.

Phantane

When South Africa’s leading marathon and ultra-marathon athlete, Gerda Steyn, announced earlier this year that the path to the club of her choice had led her to Phantane, eye-brows were raised. But she made it clear that for her, the grass-roots development focus of the Durban-based club meant more to her than potentially bigger material rewards other clubs might have offered.

Under the management of the visionary Mdu Khumalo, and supported by Totalsports, Phantane has gone from strength to strength, having unearthed and polished its own home-grown talent – athletes who will likely succeed at higher levels. Phantane’s positive energy and commitment have attracted some of the country’s top distance athletes.

Although Sboniso Sikhakhane, third in last year’s Two Oceans, switched colours this year from the green and yellow of Phantane to the grey and white of Entsika, Steyn’s presence as  favourite to defend her Oceans title more than compensates for the loss.  And Khumalo expects Two Oceans novice Nkululeko Ngubane to challenge for gold. “He has got great potential to be a future star over the distance,” said Khumalo.

Entsika

Coach Hendrick Ramaala affords Entsika a distinct advantage.  Not only was Ramaala one of South Africa’s best-ever distance athletes, he has also proved himself as a top coach, having been appointed as coach of the South African marathon team at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

“We are more focused on the 56km at Oceans this time,” said Ramaala. “We don’t have the Nedbank budget to bring in big numbers, so we are just bringing 4 guys and 1 lady to push for the podium and top 10.”

And with runners of the calibre of Sboniso Sikhakhane, Givemore Mudzinganyama, Msawenkosi Mthalane and Thando Ngcobo in the ranks in the men’s competition and Nobukhosi Tshuma in the women’s, Ramaala’s 2023 Oceans’ ambitions could well be satisfied.

Hollywood

New kids on the block, the ‘Purple Family’ are making up for lost time, having already made a significant splash in the country’s distance running pond.

The club started out as a small social running club in KZN in 2016 with only 30 members and has grown significantly, having extended its reach into four provinces and boasting some of South Africa’s finest distance athletes.  These include both of last year’s Two Oceans runner-ups in Nkosikhona Mhlakwana and Irvette van Zyl and 2018 Comrades champion, Ann Ashworth.

The appointments of twice Comrades gold medallist, Prodigal Khumalo, and Ann Ashworth as club coaches and more recently Manfred Seidler as club manager has further elevated the club’s status and there is little doubt that purple will be conspicuous in both the Two Oceans 56km and Half Marathon lead packs this weekend.

“Hollywood is a club which focuses on a broad spectrum of both short and long distance running,” said Seidler. “The process of building the club won’t happen overnight. We would like to grow on a national basis into the longer term, both elite and social. Socially, the club in KZN has over 900 licensed athletes.

“In the 56km this year, Mhlakwana is focused on improving his time and hopefully his position and undoubtedly has the ability to make it to number one. And he will have the support of promising ultra-distance athletes Makwande Mngcwengi and Mahlomola Sekhonyane.  Not far back in the field Ashworth will be racing for a top ten position in the women’s competition.”

But it is likely to be in the Two Oceans Half Marathon that Hollywood could feature most strongly this year, with recent signing Mathews Leetho, Collen Mulaudzi, Reghen Magwai and Lesotho athlete Tsepo Ramashamole a powerful quartet contesting top ten positions.