Sunday, November 06, 2005

Could South Africa take two titles in the New York City marathon?

Last year Hendrik Ramaala won the mens challenge in the New York City marathon. Will he defend his title against the challenge from world record holder, Paul Tergat?

But South Africa already has one title. Our world record holder in the wheelchair marathon, Ernst van Dyk, has won his first New York marathon title in a new course record!



South Africa continues to amass a disproportionate number of sporting title when you consider our relative size.

Well done Ernst!

Oh so close


Paul Tergat, left, of Kenya, crosses the finish line ahead of Hendrik Ramaala
Tergat beat Ramaala in a lunge for the line! Here are the last few moments of the race from the race website:

12:23 p.m.: Ramaala and Tergat ran stride for stride up Park Drive to the finish. Tergat briefly fell behind Ramaala, but then drew even again. Coming up to the line, both men lunged, but it was Tergat who broke the tape as Ramaala tumbled to the pavement. Both were given the same time, 2:09:31 unofficially, but Paul Tergat is the ING New York City Marathon 2005 champion.

12:17 p.m.: Keflezighi is off the pace now on Central Park South, so it’s Ramaala and Tergat dueling for the victory. It’s the defending champion versus the world record-holder. Now Tergat has a few steps on Ramaala. Ramaala is still in contact as they turn into Columbus Circle. It’s not over.

12:15 p.m.: 4:55 for the 24th mile, as they reach that marker in 1:58:54. Ramaala is making his bid for the win, and Tergat is covering his moves. Keflezighi sometimes looks like he’s falling back, but then he moves back up into contact; he’s not doing the lead work or creating the surges, just answering them. 25th mile in 4:48, 2:04:45.

2 comments:

andrea said...

IITQ: Is SA a rabid running nation? The more I learn the more I want to visit. I just discovered that you have 45 million to our 32 and I always thought SA had a smaller population than Canada. More trivia than you ever wanted to know...

It is the question said...

You'd have to say so. The COmrades Marathon is run between Durban and Pietermaritzburg each year, a distance of 89km. It is the largest ultra marathon in the world and attracts 25 000 runners each year.