Following a successful 2024 year in which Hollywood Athletics Club’s elite athletes performed exceptionally well in big races such as the Two Oceans and Soweto Marathons, (Elite Athlete Manager) Manfred Seidler believes the club is on the right track to dominate long distance in the country.
Seidler sat down with Thathe Msimango to highlight 2024’s achievements, new additions to the club’s elite ranks and future plans for one of the fastest-growing clubs in the country.
Thathe Msimango: Greetings Manfred, can you please review 2024 for us? Were you happy with what the Hollywood Athletics Club achieved?
Manfred Seidler: I’m very Happy. We had some really good results throughout the year. Some standout performances were Carla Molinaro’s fifth at Two Oceans and fourth at Comrades. Neheng Khatala had a brilliant year, from 19 races she was on the podium on 16 occasions, racking up seven wins, including the Hollywoodbets Durban 10km and the Soweto Marathon.
Stephen Mokoka and Mathews Leeto both clocked sub 2:10 marathons at the Durban International Marathon, with Mathews running a 2:09.47, taking six minutes off his previous best. Mokoka also clocked his second-fastest 10km time ever.
Let’s not forget that Irvette van Zyl ran 3:29 at Two Oceans with a swollen knee after being tripped at 4km. That second place took guts.
Two Oceans was a happy hunting ground for the Purple Team. We finished with a second (Irvette), third (Loveness Madziva) and fifth (Carla Molinaro) in the Women’s race. Loveness, on her way to her 3:38.00 time also clocked a Marathon PB of 2:38.
On the Men’s side, Khoarahlane Joseph Seutloali finished eighth on debut. Sadly, Stephen had to stop due to dehydration. We also reached close to 10 000 runners for our Hollywoodbets Durban 10k and had 6 000 runners for our inaugural Hollywoodbets Joburg 10k. In both races, we attracted star-studded fields.
Then there was Cian Oldknow who totally smashed the marathon, running 2:25.08 in Seville to qualify for the Olympics. We really are very happy with 2024.
𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐇 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐒 - UPDATE: Our women's #TTOM2024 Race is between the 2 titans, Gerda Steyn & Irvette van Zyl in a classic rematch! Neck-on-neck as they descended Chapman's Peak - so far there is still very little separating these two, it is too early to call pic.twitter.com/GXSkROEVSt
— Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon (@2OceansMarathon) April 13, 2024
TM: What is the club doing to build on last year?
MS: There is a five-year plan in place for the Club to be competitive over all distances on the road. We already have a strong Two Oceans Team in both the Men’s and Women’s races; and half of these athletes will also be running Soweto.
Our Comrades Women’s team is very strong too. Cian and Tayla (Kavanagh) will be looking to run some really fast times over the 10km and Half Marathon.
Mathews is on the hunt for a 10k and Marathon PB. So we believe we are looking pretty strong for 2025. We do still have some work to do to expand the team, with more depth needed in the shorter distances and of course to build a Men’s Comrades Team.
TM: What is the cub’s major focus for this year?
MS: The focus for 2025 is to dominate Two Oceans and Soweto in both the Men’s and Women’s races.
TM: Since the club has secured the services of Gerda Steyn, can we expect more signings? Or are you done in the market?
MS: The door is still open and we are looking at a few athletes who could strengthen the Team.
TM: What do you think would make 2025 a success for the Hollywood Athletics Club?
MS: The Domination of Two Oceans and Soweto would be a huge success for us and we are hoping to do just that. We think we have the team to make it happen. On the social side, we are looking to hit 3 000 club members in 2025.
