Johannes wins half-marathon

NAMIBIAN marathon athlete Helaria Johannes was in great form when she won the South African Half-Marathon Championships in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.

Johannes’s winning time of 1 hour, 10 minutes and 59 seconds equalled the Namibian record that she established at the Old Mutual Victory Races at Swakopmund on September 24 last year. Johannes destroyed the field, finishing more than two minutes ahead of Zintle Xiniwe, who came second in 1:13:02, and Sharon Tavengwa, who came third in 1:13:41.Johannes’s training partner, Tabitha Tstsa of Zimbabwe, came fourth in 1:14:15.Johannes qualified for the Olympic Games in March when she came seventh in the Seoul Marathon in a time of 2:33,06.Not only was it a new Namibian record time, but it was also well below the Olympic Games qualifying time of 2:37:00.Since then she has been concentrating on shorter distances to improve her speed.On June 21, she won the Spar Ladies 10-km race in Durban in a fast time of 33 minutes 41 seconds.Johannes finished well ahead of Tsatsa, who came second in 33:59.AGNES IN SPAIN Namibian middle-distance athlete Agnes Samaria, meanwhile, finished seventh in the women’s 1 500m at the Meeting de Madrid on Saturday.With 400m remaining, Samaria was lying third, but she was overtaken by several athletes down the home straight.The race was won by Iryna Lishehynska of the Ukraine in 4:05,94, with Rene Kalmer of South Africa coming second (4:06,71) and Btissam Lakhouad of Morocco third (4:06,84).Anna Mishchenko of Ukraine finished fourth in 4:07,34, followed by Marta Dominguez of Spain (4:07,77) and Nuria Fernandez of Spain (4:08,00).Samaria followed in seventh position in a time of 4:09,77.Samaria told Namibia Sport it was one of her worst races so far this season.”I ran one of my worst races up to now.I was running too wide and was never able to relax in the race.I kicked at the 400m mark in third position until last 60m when I suddenly realised I had no gas left and I struggled to finish in seventh position,” she said.”I am very disappointed but I have put it behind me because I must remain focused,” she added.Samaria’s time was well below her time of 4:05,67 that she set at the Jerez Meet in Spain on June 24.On that occasion Samaria came second behind Asefa Meskerem of Ethiopia to break the Olympic qualifying time of 4:07,00.On June 14 Samaria also qualified for the Olympic 1 500m when she came second in a time of 4:06,83 at the CAA Super Grand Prix Meeting in Rabat, Morocco.In a sprint to the line, Morocco’s Btissam Lakhaoud narrowly beat Samaria to the line with a winning time of 4:06,71.Namibia SportJohannes destroyed the field, finishing more than two minutes ahead of Zintle Xiniwe, who came second in 1:13:02, and Sharon Tavengwa, who came third in 1:13:41.Johannes’s training partner, Tabitha Tstsa of Zimbabwe, came fourth in 1:14:15.Johannes qualified for the Olympic Games in March when she came seventh in the Seoul Marathon in a time of 2:33,06.Not only was it a new Namibian record time, but it was also well below the Olympic Games qualifying time of 2:37:00.Since then she has been concentrating on shorter distances to improve her speed.On June 21, she won the Spar Ladies 10-km race in Durban in a fast time of 33 minutes 41 seconds.Johannes finished well ahead of Tsatsa, who came second in 33:59.AGNES IN SPAIN Namibian middle-distance athlete Agnes Samaria, meanwhile, finished seventh in the women’s 1 500m at the Meeting de Madrid on Saturday.With 400m remaining, Samaria was lying third, but she was overtaken by several athletes down the home straight.The race was won by Iryna Lishehynska of the Ukraine in 4:05,94, with Rene Kalmer of South Africa coming second (4:06,71) and Btissam Lakhouad of Morocco third (4:06,84).Anna Mishchenko of Ukraine finished fourth in 4:07,34, followed by Marta Dominguez of Spain (4:07,77) and Nuria Fernandez of Spain (4:08,00).Samaria followed in seventh position in a time of 4:09,77.Samaria told Namibia Sport it was one of her worst races so far this season.”I ran one of my worst races up to now.I was running too wide and was never able to relax in the race.I kicked at the 400m mark in third position until last 60m when I suddenly realised I had no gas left and I struggled to finish in seventh position,” she said.”I am very disappointed but I have put it behind me because I must remain focused,” she added.Samaria’s time was well below her time of 4:05,67 that she set at the Jerez Meet in Spain on June 24.On that occasion Samaria came second behind Asefa Meskerem of Ethiopia to break the Olympic qualifying time of 4:07,00.On June 14 Samaria also qualified for the Olympic 1 500m when she came second in a time of 4:06,83 at the CAA Super Grand Prix Meeting in Rabat, Morocco.In a sprint to the line, Morocco’s Btissam Lakhaoud narrowly beat Samaria to the line with a winning time of 4:06,71.Namibia Sport