NAMIBIA’S ace road runner Helalia Johannes beat a field of more than 6 000 athletes to win the Two Oceans Half Marathon in Cape Town on Saturday in a fast time of 1 hour 13 minutes and 34 seconds.
Johannes led from the start to finish more than two minutes ahead of Mamarolla Tjoka of Lesotho (1:15:43), while Tabitha Tsatsa of Zimbabwe came third in 1:17:10.With the victory, Johannes once again reasserted her position as the top half-marathon athlete in southern Africa, after having won the Two Oceans Half Marathon on three occasions over the past four years.Johannes won the title for the first time in 2006 in a time of 1:13:35 and then again won in 2007 in a new record time of 1:13:16.Last year she did not participate as she was competing at the Seoul Marathon in South Korea, where she qualified for the Olympic Games in Beijing. Johannes told Namibia Sport that she was in good shape and could have threatened her record had she received stronger competition.’There was a bit of wind, but I really enjoyed the race and I led from the start to the finish. There was no competition and no one to push me to go faster, so I had to run on my own from the start, but I’m happy with my time,’ she said.Johannes is currently training to become a soldier with the Namibia Defence Force and is based at the Osana Base in Okahandja. She thanked her instructors for giving her time off so that she could train, although her training regime has not been as intensive as in the past, and now consists of only one daily session in the afternoon.She said she hoped to compete in international events again this year, but would first have to get permission from her instructors.’I am not sure in which events I will participate, but I hope to compete internationally again. On the local scene I plan to defend my title in the Old Mutual Victory Races series,’ she said.The 28-year-old Johannes is currently in great form and in October last year came fourth at the Adidas Dublin Marathon in a new Namibian marathon record of 2:32:30. – Nampa
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