April skips SA championships
LUSAPHO April is giving this year's national marathon championships a miss because he is afraid of spoiling his chances at the London Olympics in August.
IN RUNNING: Experienced marathon runner Hendrick RamaalaThe defending champion has decided not to run another marathon until the Games race on August 12.
With April missing from Sunday's national race, the field could be wide open. Hendrik Ramaala, who is eager to get to his fifth Olympics, still needs to run a faster marathon than he has done so far, but his most recent one was just a week ago and he will not be willing to do another without adequate rest. His time last week in the Dubai marathon was 2hrs:12min:22sec, but there are three South Africans who have run faster than that, including April, whose 2:09:25 from the Hannover marathon in May last year makes him the fastest. He also has a 2:11:09 to his credit from the Frankfurt marathon last October.
Steven Mokoka is second fastest with his 2:10:29 from the Shanghai marathon in December, followed by Coolboy Ngamole's 2:10:43 in Spain last November.
April ran three marathons in 2011, finishing well within the 2:15:00 A-standard Olympic marathon qualifying time. According to coach Karin Zimmerman, April will be taking it easy to prevent a repeat of 2011. He struggled with an injury after last year's championships and is doing all he can to avoid a repeat.
April triumphed in George last year (2:13:21) and then added a spectacular victory to his list less than a month later in Hannover. For the first time in his marathon career he dipped under the 2:10:00 mark. At the end of October he completed the Frankfurt marathon, which was an Olympic qualifying race, in 2:11:09 to finish in 20th place.
April is the third of five athletes that have already run the qualifying time for the marathon. These include Othaniel Phahlane (2:14:55).
Sunday's marathon carries a prize of R50000 and Ngamole from Central North West is a possible favourite. He was runner-up at the 2011 championships (2:14:29) and winner of the 2010 championships (2:16:19). He also competed at the world championships in Deagu last year and his experience could prove invaluable.
Ngamole ended 2011 on a high note. He ran in Valencia at the end of November where he finished sixth in a new personal best time of 2:10:43 and just over four minutes faster than the 2:15:00 Olympic A-standard qualifying time.
Teammate David Ngakane is also a possible contender. His best performance in 2011 was the Pyongyang marathon in April where he finished third, in a time of 2:15:31, a new personal best. He also won last year's Soweto Marathon in 2:19:04.
The 25-year-old Michael Mazibuko from Central Gauteng will most likely finish in the top 10 on Sunday.
Raphael Segodi and Johannes Kekana, both from Central Gauteng, could also make things difficult for any athlete looking for victory.
Current SA marathon record holder Gert Thys, who set the fastest time of 2:06:33 in February 1999, can never be discounted, despite having been absent from marathon running for some time.
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