Europeans win at Comrades
Marathon
Mark Ouma for the IAAF
Poland’s Jaroslaw Janicki and Birgit Lennartz of Germany won the men's and women’s races of the Comrades Marathon in Durban, South Africa (Wednesday June 16). A field of more than 14,000 people (12,269 men and 1,841 women) started the race in Pietermaritzburg. The 89.9 kilometre contest ended in the Indian Ocean port of Durban.
Janicki survived a late surge by Alexei Volgin (Russia) to win the men’s race in 5:30:10. Although Janicki won, it was Volgin who won the hearts of the huge crowd that lined the road in the closing stages of the race. In a remarkable display of stoicism and tenacity, Volgin held on to finish the race in spite of suffering severe cramps in his right leg moments after taking the lead with 3 kilometres to the finish.
The Pole looked set to win the men’s race until Volgin surged past him with 6 km to go. But Volgin's hopes for victory were shattered when he began to cramp up at 86 km (3km from the finish). He was reduced to almost a walk as Janicki regained the lead and powered his way to victory.
Covering the last 10 km in sub 32 minutes, Viktor Zhdanov (Russia) progressed from 15th position to become the runner up in 5:31:31. He was followed home by Andrew Kelehe (5:32:42), Lucas Matlala (RSA) 5:33:20 and Volgin 5:35:00 in that order.
"It was my dream to win the Comrades because it is the most prestigious ultra marathon in the world," said the three-time European 100km Champion Janicki. "When Volgin overtook me, l knew he had worked hard to catch me as he did not make a huge lead. I dug deep as l was not prepared to lose to Volgin again," referring to the 1996 100km Championships where the Russian won with just 12 seconds margin over Janicki.
The race started at an unusually fast pace with 40 principle contenders coming to the fore after only 8 km. These included 1998 Comrades champion Dmitre Grishin (RUS), 1997 Comrades champion Charl Mattheus (RSA) and Zithulele Sinqe, 1996 and 1997 Two Oceans marathon (56km) champion, pushing the pace. They paid dearly for this early effort with Grishin finishing a poor 78th with the other two not completing the race due to injuries.
In a history making feat, newcomers took the top four positions in the women's race. Seasoned campaigners, South Africans Helen Joubert, Berna Daly, Sanet Beukes and Russians Valentina Liakova and Valentina Shatyeyeva (Russia) dominated the women’s contest until the half way mark (45km).
But then Birgit Lennartz took a commanding lead at Botha's Hill (51 km) and went on to win in 6:31:03. Grace de Oliviera (RSA), Marina Bychkova (RUS), Maria Venancio (BRA) and Shatyeyeva clocked 6:34:53, 6:36:34, 6:40:18, and 6:45:07 respectively to finish in that order.
LEADING RESULTS
Men
1 Jaroslaw Janicki (Poland) 5:30:10
2 Vicktor Zhdanov (Russia) 5:31:31
3 Andrew Kelehe (South Africa) 5:32:42
4 Lucas Matlala South Africa) 5:33:30
5 Alexei Volgin (Russia) 5:35:00
6 Mahlala Mohloli (South Africa) 5:37:12
7 Anantoli Korepanov (Russia) 5:38:05
8 Walter Nkosi (South Africa) 5:40:20
9 Serio Motsoeneng (South Africa) 5:40:50
10 Joseph Ikaneng (South Africa) 5:41:08
Women
1 Birgit Lennartz (Germany ) 6:31:03
2 Grace de Oliviera (South Africa) 6:34:53
3 Maringa Bychkova (Russia) 6:36:34
4 Maria Venancio (Brazil) 6:45:07
5 Valentina Shatyeyeva (Russia) 6:45:07
6 Madeleen Otto (South Africa) 6:47:06
7 Berna Daly (South Africa) 6:48:13
8 Ina Sander (South Africa) 6:56:20
9 Ann Chester (South Africa) 7:01:56
10 Charlotte Noble (South Africa) 7:02:04
Women
