Hollywood Athletics Club Sub-Elite athlete Lethokuhle Letsoalo will use the Balwin Sport Dolphin Coast Marathon as preparation for the Two Oceans Marathon next month.
Letsoalo will participate over the Half-Marathon distance which starts near Sibaya and ends at the Amphitheatre near the Elangeni Hotel on Sunday 16 March. It will be the first time, Letsoalo attempts the 21km distance in this event after tackling the full Marathan twice before.
In 2023, she clocked 3:16:30 to finish third overall. She improved her time in 2024 by over 10 minutes on her way to register 03:05:31 to take another third-place finish. The 41-year-old New Germany resident has been smart in terms of racing this year, only running the PDAC 25km in which she finished 6th overall in a good time of 1:48:27, and was the first lady home in the 40-49 age category.
“Since I have done well in the race in the past over the Marathon, this year I decided to run the Half-Marathon. I am in my best shape to attempt my first goal, the plan is to test if all the work we have put in with my coach will take me through and to my marathon goal. “said the Mark Wolff-coached athlete.
Letsoalo won’t be the only Sub-Elite to represent the club over the Half-Marathon distance in the event as Sizwe Ndaba will take part in the men’s category. The 34-year-old Comrades Marathon silver medallist is running the race in preparation for the Durban International Marathon in May.
His mission this year is to improve his times over shorter distances. Ndaba who has a 1 hour 17 minutes personal best time in the Half-Marathon, started the year in decent form, finishing in 16th position in TRACN4 Ellands Marathon in 2:34:21 in Mpumalanga.
“On Sunday, my target is to run a fast time, aiming for 1:12. I’m used to running marathons, ultras, and Comrades, but this year, my focus is on building a strong running profile. I understand that to improve overall performance in long-distance races, I need to work on speed over shorter distances like 5km, 10km, and 21km. By improving in these races, I can boost my fitness and pace for longer events,” he said.
Meanwhile in the 10km distance, Simphiwe Zulu will be out to continue his excellent form. In February, the 47-year-old opened his season account by clinching a win in the Richard’s Bay Minerals 10km, running 34:12. He followed up that performance by coming third overall in the Mfundo Arnold Lushaba 10km race in UMthwalume, South of KwaZulu-Natal.
He attempted his first half-marathon distance for the year successfully during the Best of the Best Marathon race in which he finished 10th overall. Then last weekend he was a runner-up up in Galleria Mall in 10km event. Zulu is clearly in great shape.
