Hollywood Athletics Club elite athlete Makhosazana Mhlongo, affectionately known as Makhosi, is targeting a sub-three hour time when she lines up at the South African Marathon Championships on Sunday 16 February in Cape Town.
The Marathon Championships are incorporated in the Balwin Sport Peninsula Marathon and Makhosi will be represent KwaZulu Natal Athletics.
After bringing the curtain down on last season with a solid ninth-place finish in the challenging and hilly Soweto Marathon, Mhlongo will be eager to open her season’s account in great style. She says to be selected to represent the province is an honour even though she didn’t expect the call up.
“I’m happy to represent to represent KwaZulu-Natal once again. To be quite fair, It is not something I expected and it came as a huge shock to me,” explained Mhlongo, who is gearing up to represent province for eighth time.
“When I received the call from the federation notifying me that I was selected, I didn’t believe it. Then I told my coach (Prodigal Khumalo) about the news who advised me to grab the opportunity with both hands. Before, we planned to use Hillcrest Half Marathon as my first race for the year which was going to be followed by Capital City Marathon.
Everything changed when I got the call. To wear provincial colours is an achievement on its own,” she explained
The 43-year-old, who hails from Hammarsdale, believes her fitness level and training has be intact in preparation for a trip to Mother City.
“After Soweto Marathon, I rested one or two weeks before I resumed my training. In fact, in the second week, I was starting to do light gym work and light jogging in preparation for my return to full training. For the whole of December, I was training hard and I could see with the results that I was improving. I’m strong at the moment but not exactly super sharp. There are areas where I need to find a balance in order to be in perfect shape. This race will help me to see how well prepared I am for Two Oceans Marathon,” she said.
Mhlongo who boasts a 2:44:33 personal best time over 42.2km distance clocked in the 2018 Cape Town Marathon, says her target is to produce a performance below the three-hour barrier. She believes the route and quality of athletes that will be assembled on race day will push her to achieve her goal.
“I heard the route is quite flat and welcoming. This is good If any runners are aiming for fast times. On my side, I’ll be happy if I run under three hours, and maybe get 2 hours 50 minutes on the day. Any time close to my personal best, I’ll take it. Plus running with good athletes from different provinces will help me to run even faster. There will be much competition on the day. With that time, I know that I’ll get into the top 10,” she concluded.
