 |
| Juan van Deventer © Action Images |
Beijing Olympic 1 500m finalist Juan van Deventer continued with his build-up for the international track season with
his third victory in the RAC Tough One 32km, clocking his fastest
time to date of one hour, 43 minutes and 33 seconds.
In near perfect weather conditions the 22-year-old UJ B.Comm
graduate ran almost uncontested for much of the tough loop around
Johannesburg's northern suburbs.
"I was hoping to go a little faster but nobody wanted to race
today. I don't know what's going on, we have got to push harder if
we want good times. Only Lucky (Mohale) stayed with me until ten
kilometres to go and even he dropped off the pace.
"My first race in 2007 was a 1:47, then last year I did a 1:45
so running a PB again gives me lots of hope for the World Indoor
Champs in Doha (March) and the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi
(October). I recon I could run under 1:40 at the coast but the
last five kilometres of today's race was tough going," said the
winner.
He was followed home by Mohale (1:44:55), Charles Tjiane
(1:46:04) and Aaron Gabonewe (1:48:08).
The women's field was loaded with talent, but in a repeat of the
men's run nobody was prepared to go full-out this late in the
season. In the end it was Pretoria's Marelise Retief (Nedbank) who
did enough to win in 2:03:33.
Elizabeth Mtombeni (Matlakeng) is struggling to shake off the
'bridesmaid' tag after again finishing second, ahead of Adinda
Kruger (2:13:39) and her Nedbank teammate Irvette van Blerk who is
struggling back to form (2:16:11).
 | |  | | | Remember to go to www.supersport.com on your Mobile phone and keep in touch with the latest scores wherever you are. |  |
| |  | |  |
|
