Road to Paris: How South Africa is taking on East Africa’s marathon dominance

South African marathon stars are drawing on the excellence of East African athletes as motivation to elevate their performance, a strategy that is clearly paying off given their success in various continental competitions. They spoke to bird story agency about their preparations for the upcoming Paris Olympics.

Stephen Granger, bird story agency

South African marathon stars Elroy Gelant and Stephen Mokoka are flipping potential intimidation into motivation as continental competitions elevates African distance running standards ahead of the Paris Olympic Marathon.

Africa’s marathon dominance by East African athletes has historically intimidated competitors from other parts of the continent – and around the world. However, as Gelant notes, this trend is shifting.

“In the past, there has often been a fear of the east African athletes,” Gelant related shortly after his win at the Durban RUN YOUR CITY 10k last weekend.

“Leading athletes from Kenya and Ethiopia are competing regularly in South Africa and we are becoming less intimidated as we get to know them.”

“They have raised the standard of racing and we have had to raise our game to compete with them. I’m working on being a little bit fearless and more inspired when I stand next to these guys on the start line in Paris.”

South African Olympic Marathon coach Michael Mbambani echoed Gelant’s view, noting that “South African athletes are starting to be more confident in racing top athletes from east Africa.”

“They’re starting to say ‘when you come to South Africa, we are in charge!’” said Mbambani.

“In the Olympic Games Marathon anything is possible,” Mbambani continued. “(Kenyan) Paul Tergat was the fastest runner in the field in the 2004 Olympic Marathon in Athens but he only finished 10th. There are no pacers in the Olympics.”

“Typically, the first half is slow with athletes exploding in the last 5-10km. Anything is possible on the day. Everyone who goes to the start line hopes to win.

“You’re likely going to have to run close to 28min for the last 10km to win. Elroy (Gelant) and Stephen (Mokoka) can do that. If they’re in contention at that stage, they will be in with a chance.”

Mokoka believes he can take on and beat the best, as he has done on several occasions in a stellar career.

At the Hong Kong Marathon in Janury 2024 he raced against Kenyan and Ethiopian athletes, placing second by just 8 seconds to Kenyan Anderson Seroi in 2:12:58, leaving three other Kenyans and an Ethiopian athlete in his wake.

He then collaborated with winner of the Taipai Marathon, Kenyan Cyrus Mutai, in March, using the marathon as preparation for the Two Oceans Ultra-marathon.

South Africans are rapidly closing the gap on their formidable rivals. Last year, at the World Road Running Championships, the dynamic quartet of Mokoka, Gelant, Thabang Mosiako, and Precious Mashele clinched bronze in the Half Marathon team competition, edging out Uganda and Eritrea and finishing just a heartbeat behind Ethiopia.

In the aftermath of the Absa RUN YOUR CITY Durban 10k where Gelant claimed victory and Mokoka followed closely with a controlled sub-28-minute performance, the duo shared their preparation plans for the upcoming Olympics.

“I have not changed my recent programme structure. I’m still getting in the big miles and now adding some faster leg turnover sessions to keep sharp. Fortunately, I’m completely free of injuries and niggles,” Gelant explained.

“Twice a week I’m spending time in a sauna to adapt to warm and humid conditions we expect in Paris. I have checked out the likely conditions at that time and I don’t expect them to be as bad as they were in Sapporo in Japan (at the 2021 Olympics),” he added.

For his part, Mokoka has adapted his training runs to avoid the colder early morning sessions.

“We are training later in the mornings and the temperature is up to 15 degrees or more when we finish,” said Mokoka.

“Then our second session is around 3pm when it’s still warmer. There’s not really enough time to recover, but I’ve found I’ve adapted well. And in ten days’ time, I’ll be moving from the bigger training blocks to lighter training and one session a day.”

Just six months short of his 40th birthday (and three months younger than Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge), Mokoka feels his best marathon is still to come. “As you age, recovery takes longer, but you can still reach higher peaks.

“My coach Michael Seme (widely known as Sponge) and I worked out the importance of racing less and building good volume. Focusing on longer distance races seems to be helping. I was able to race a 2:09 marathon just two weeks after running a world record for 50km in Gqeberha last year. And Gerda (Steyn) has shown us what’s possible – the more she races ultras the faster she gets!”

“We plan one harder year and then an easier one. My dream is to hang up my shoes with a 2:05 marathon in my legs!

“I’m still thinking of improving on my performance at Doha (the 2019 World Championships in Doha where Mokoka placed 5th, just 29 seconds behind the winner). The Hong Kong Marathon this year confirmed that I can run hills well and I think the Paris hills will suit me,” Mokoka reflected. “The shorter you are (Mokoka is one of the shortest in the field) the better you can climb!”

Gelant admits that the excitement of being at his first Olympics, with all its distractions, detracted from his performances.

“At my first Olympics at Rio in 2016, I went into overdrive with the excitement of being in the Olympic Village and being part of the opening ceremony. I got too excited. Those elements don’t concern me anymore and I’ve learnt from past experience.

“We won’t be there for the opening ceremony this time but I’m looking forward to the closing ceremony after having enjoyed the best race of my life!

“This time the biggest thing is representing my country at the Olympics. And I’m going with a positive mindset to be the best I can be – a top fifteen position or anything better would be really good.

“My family won’t be there,” Gelant related. “But the fact that my coach Jean Verster will be in Paris as head coach of the South African track team will be a huge plus for me.”

Gelant plans to return to his roots in the Southern Cape for one of his last training weeks, to re-connect with some ‘soul’ elements. “I’ve been getting so many messages of support from Pacaltsdorp recently and it will be good to go back and train on some of my favourite runs, such as the George to Wilderness run through Saasveld over Strawberry Hill.

“Connecting with these people, such as Moses Gericke (president of SWD athletics), and places refreshes me boosts me spiritually and mentally.”

While Gelant draws inward strength from returning to his roots, Mokoka has found inspiration from reaching out to others.

“I’m working with a group of athletes from Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) as part of the Sponge group (his coach),” Mokoka said.

“Some of them have real talent, such as Milton Kekane, who ran 2:13:41 in his debut marathon at the SA Championships in Durban… And I’m enjoying being a part of a team, rather than doing the training on my own,” he added.

“Being a coach and ambassador of the sport opens the mind to new things. You learn from others as much as they learn from you. One of the guys at TUT was battling with his strength and we incorporated more strength training for him. Because of seeing the value that brought to him, I changed my own gym work from once to three times a week and have benefitted. I might have been a better athlete had I done so years ago.

“I used to train six times a week in eleven sessions. Now we train seven times a week in fourteen sessions and feel this is making a positive difference and I’m looking forward to seeing the difference at the Olympics in Paris.”

bird story agency