Blunders dog City to City race

There comes a point when one eventually just has to laugh.

And experiencing the organisational blunders of Sunday's City to City Heritage Marathon was one such occasion.

The morning's mishaps ranged from a media truck that ran out of fuel mid-race (after being late to begin with so none of the media contingent were even on the vehicle) to the unfortunate souls who thought they were running a 10km race being sent on a round-about 16km route. No wonder the race took just a little longer than anticipated with the winning times somewhere round the 50-minute mark.

Thankfully that was not the case in the ultra-marathon, though, as running further than the 50km between Pretoria and Johannesburg would have been no laughing matter for the 2000-strong field.

The 50km race in fact turned out to be a rather intriguing one with Zimbabwean Oliver Kandiero taking the men's title and Yolande Maclean the women's, both being handed R50 000 cheques for their efforts.

The men ran as a pack for about the first hour before Sipho Ncube decided to make a move. He didn't stay up front for long, however, and the lead changed hands several times before Kunderai took the race on at the 40km mark.

"I noticed the other guys weren't good on the hills and there are lots of hills towards the end so that's when I made my move," said the Zimbabwean who crossed the line in 2:51,17. "I feel great because I prepared well for this race and really wanted to win it. Now I just have to win Two Oceans." Ncube was second in 2:54,52 and Albert Koao completed the Harmony clean sweep by finishing third in 2:54,56.

Meanwhile, Mr Price's Maclean's tough nine-week training programme with new coach John Hamlet seemed to have paid off. She overtook the entire women's field between the 10 and 20km marks and then it was simply a matter of hanging on till the end.

"The first half was quite tough because I was getting used to the pace and I was a bit concerned as to where the other girls were," she explained after winning in a time of 3:37,54. "This win is actually a bonus for me because it's my first long one since Comrades."

Liberty's Sarah-Jane Kumalo finished second in 3:42,21 and defending champion Paulinah Phaho third in 3:42,29.

Meanwhile, Gauteng MEC for Sport, Art, Science and Culture Barbara Creecy explained the organisation of the race was a collaborative effort between her department, Central Gauteng athletics, Northern Gauteng athletics and the two cities.

"If there were problems we will have to look at why they occurred and deal with them," she said. "As this event grows we will look at similar events locally and internationally to learn key lessons to ensure the organisation is world class."

This year's race was apparently run in honour of the late Joe Slovo. One wonders if it is in fact an honour to have such a shambolic event run in one's honour.

Let's hope the former SACP leader had a sense of humour.