Khonkhobe Battles Illness Ahead Of Two Oceans Marathon Title Defence

ONALENNA KHONKHOBE was not feeling well on Tuesday. The defending champion of the Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon told Independent Media that while his training for the Mother Citys 56km ultra was on track, he had taken ill.

Im not feeling well, champ, Khonkhobe said. And because of that, Im not sure if I will be able to defend my title.

Despite this, the Nedbank Running Club athlete will toe the start line on Saturday as the favourite, given his victory last year. Khonkhobe won the race in 3:09:30, beating his teammate Lloyd Bosman into second place by 28 seconds, while then-title holder Givemore Mudzinganyama occupied the final podium place with 3:11:13.

Khonkhobe had confidently promised to emerge victorious, the runner from North West Province declaring at the pre-race conference that all the cameras would be fixed on him come race day. He lived up to that promise, beating the entire field to cross the UCT Sports Field finish line first.

Any notion that the victory was a fluke was smashed to pieces later in the year when Khonkhobe won the tough Soweto Marathon, confirming his status as one of the countrys top runners.