Moorosi Tsiane
JOBO Khatoane successfully defended his Bocheletsane half marathon title in Mantsonyane yesterday morning.
Neheng Khatala came first in the female category.
Letsekeng Sekonyela and Lebenya Nkoka came second and third respectively in the male category while Mathakane Letsie and Mokulubete Makatisi came second and third respectively in the female category.
Khatoane and Khatala each pocketed M10 000 while the second and third-placed runners each took home M7 000 and M5 000 respectively.
Khatoane and Khatala both started strong leading the pack from start to finish.
Khatoane who has now won the race for three consecutive years said he was excited with the performance adding that it was a good platform to prepare for other upcoming races outside the country.
“I am happy that I managed to defend my title,” Khatoane said.
“Races like this one give us good practice when preparing for races outside the country. I will be competing in the Two Oceans Marathon later this year in Cape Town hence this will be important.”
“The competition was tough but I am thankful to my fellow athletes who pushed me to keep going.
“I am also thankful to MGC for the race which has made a difference in my life. This is how we make a living and it is good thing that the number of local races is increasing.”
Neheng also said she was happy to win having prepared hard.
“I was preparing for the Olympic qualifiers but unfortunately, the events were cancelled due to the Coronavirus outbreak, so I decided to come here and this performance just shows how ready I was.
“I am happy with how everything went and I will go back to prepare maybe we will be given another chance for qualifiers before the Olympics in July. The course was good and challenging and that is what I needed.”
Khatala also thanked MGC for the race and said she hopes the number of races increase.
“I thank MGC for this event. We need more similar initiatives,” Khatala said.
In the five-kilometre race, Thebe Semoko, Monatsi Monatsi and Ralenkoane Lekopa came first, second and third respectively in the male category. Retsepile Mosebetsane, Maserema Faatle and Manqabang Tsibela came first, second and third in the female category.