The Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) hosted its Elite Athletes Media Briefing on Friday morning. We take a look at the top contenders in the 95th running of the famous old race.
Women’s Race
Ann Ashworth (18/10) – South Africa
The last Down Run champion is Ann Ashworth who held off the rising star, Gerda Steyn. She wasn’t supposed to win the race. She was not seen as a favourite and was not rated. But the underdog had her day.
Running well within herself in the first half, Ashworth started to move up through the field in the second half. At Winston Park Ashworth made her move. Morozova down Fields Hill and passed Ashworth heading into Pinetown. But the gap wasn’t a big one and as the runners entered Durban, Ashworth surged again and accelerated even more in the final 8km.
In 2019 she finished 4th. With Covid ruling out races, Ashworth turned to trail running and won the Ultra Trail Drakensberg (100km) and finished 4th in the UTCT – Ultra Trail Cape Town. Ashworth started 2022 with a 1:36.49 in the Pinetown 25km, finishing third. At the 2022 Two Oceans Marathon, she crossed the line in 7th, clocking 3:47.38.
As she is the defending champion in the Down Run, Ashworth will be a force to be reckoned with come race day.
Charne Bosman (8/1) – South Africa
Few will forget the sight of Charne Bosman flying down into Durban and then screaming past a battling Caroline Wostmann who had paid the price for chasing a sub-6 Comrades Marathon finishing time in the 2016 race.
Few will also forget that Bosman collapsed 27km from the finish line Durban in 2014 and fainted due to a dysfunctional thyroid. Bosman was the first South African home in 2013 when she finished 5th and has never been outside the top ten with the exception of that 2014 race.
In 2015 she was second, 2016 she won. A year later she was third across the line. 2018 saw a repeat of her 5th place performance from 2013. Her worst performance came in 2019 when she finished 8th. If you are banking on someone finishing in the top ten, bank on Charne Bosman.
With this year’s race being very open, a podium finish cannot be discounted, especially as Bosman has just taken 3minutes off her best time ever run at the Om Die Dam 50km, clocking 3:27.35, and smiling as she crossed the line. Bosman is also finding her form, having run her fastest 10km in seven years when she ran 36:48 in August 2021 at the Spar Grand Prix in Pietermaritzburg.
Two weeks later she went better, running 35:32 in Cape Town in the Spar Ladies there. Bosman has clearly rediscovered her running mojo and will be a force to be reckoned with, come August 28.
Adele Broodryk (14/1) – South Africa
Adele Broodryk has made an emphatic statement that she needs to be considered a serious contender for the women’s race. The 31-year-old came within a whisker of breaking the Om Die Dam Record when she won this year’s race in 3:23.48.
On the way to victory, Broodryk went through the marathon mark in 2:46.58 – a 56second improvement on her official marathon PB of 2:47.54 run in Cape Town in October 2021.
Bearing in mind that the Cape Town Marathon is a flat course and at the coast, this speaks volumes of her form. The Om Die Dam 50km is held around the Hartbeespoort Dam which lies at an altitude of 1170m and the route is by no means an easy one with the infamous Saartjie’s Nek coming in after 30km.
This makes her marathon time quite the statement. Broodryk finished 6th at the Two Oceans Marathon, running 3:47.23 in her first ultramarathon. Proving she has some speed in those legs, Broodryk took three minutes off her 10km PB when she ran 35:08 at the Spar Ladies Race in Gqeberha on 28 May.
She may be a novice at the Comrades Marathon but Adele Broodryk will be closely watched come race day.
Jenna Challenor (10/1) – South Africa
In her debut Comrades Marathon and her only Comrades to date, Jenna Challenor quietly came through the field to finish in 6th. Challenor is a relative novice to ultra-running but is no less a top ten contender for the 2022 Comrades Marathon.
She made her ultra-debut at the Two Oceans Marathon in 2017, finishing second. In 2019 she was 5th while this year, Challenor was 9th across the line. In the four ultramarathons she has run, Challenor has never finished outside the top ten.
Challenor has run 35:17 for 10km in Gqeberha in May this year with a comfortable 2:51.42 marathon in June this year in Hillcrest. Expect Challenor to be at least in the top ten again this year.
Dominika Stelmach (33/10) – Poland
Stelmach has only run the Comrades Marathon once time in 2019 where she finished 5th. But the Polish athlete is an experienced ultra-runner, both on the roads and the trails.
Since 2015 she has competed in 33 ultramarathons, has finished outside the top 5 only on two occasions and has 19 wins to her name. That is an impressive resume.
Stelmach is no stranger to South Africa. Other than her 5th place at the 2019 Comrades Marathon, she had also finished 4th at the Two Oceans Marathon in 2019 and 2nd in 2018. Her 2022 has already been an active year.
In February she won the Black Canyon Trail 100km in the USA and finished 4th in the 24-hour Barcelona Race. Impressive is her 50km split of 3:29.52 at the Centurion Track 100, her finish time for the 100km distance was 7:40.50. She also clocked a 76:15 in the Half Marathon.
She will come prepared for the 2022 Comrades Marathon. Stelmach has never yet been on the start line of a race and not been a contender for a podium position. 2022 Comrades should prove to be no different.
Camille Herron (18/10) – USA
Herron won the race in 2017 beating Alexandra Morozova by 4minutes. Herron is a well-known ultra-athlete and if you follow her on social media, you will see her running frequently on both the roads and the trails.
Already in 2022, she has been a very busy lady, having entered and won three different ultramarathons. Herron took the Jackpot Ultra Running Festival 100-mile race which doubled as the US Championships.
She not only won the women’s race but was the overall winner to boot. Two months later she defeated Dominika Stelmach in the Centurion Track 100 clocking 7:39.06 to the 7:40.50 of Stelmach. In May Herron won the Strolling Jim 40 Mile race.
Yolande Maclean (16/1) – South Africa
Look for an athlete who always seems to find herself in the top ten of any ultramarathon she enters and you need look no further than Yolande Maclean.
Since her first Comrades Marathon in 2003, Maclean has run in every Comrades Marathon bar 2014 and 2017. Only once has she not made top ten and that was in 2019 where she crossed the line 11th.
Just before the Covid-19 pandemic shut down the world of racing in 2020, Maclean finished third at the Om Die Dam. This year she was 9th, running 3:45.20.
At the 2021 Runified 50km in May, MacLean was also just outside the top ten, but her 3:27.10 shows she is still an athlete who cannot be discounted come race day on 28 August.
Maclean has a reputation for being tough as nails and a fighter and she is guaranteed to make life difficult for a number of athletes at this year’s Comrades Marathon. If any of the more favoured athletes start to falter because they have a bad, day, expect MacLean to be there picking up the pieces.
Danette Walley – South Africa
Quietly going about her business of solidifying her challenge for a top ten position at the 2022 Comrades Marathon is Danette Walley. 13th at this year’s Two Oceans Marathon and 6th at Om Die Dam, Walley has raised her hand again as a top ten contender for this year’s Comrades Marathon.
Her best performance at The Ultimate Human Race was 8th in 2017. She finished 24th in 2018 and 16th in 2019. Walley could very well make the race for one of those final places in the top ten very interesting indeed.
Charlene Archer – South Africa
The unknown element is probably what best sums up Charlene Archer. The 39-year-old is a newcomer to the running scene with results reflecting only since 2019 where she finished 34th in the Nelson Mandela Bay Half Marathon in a time of 1:23.28. 2021 is a different story though.
At the same Half Marathon, she took three minutes off her PB. While 1:20.08 for a Half Marathon won’t really make the pundits sit up and take notice, it is what she did that year in the Nedbank Runified 50km that has made those who follow the sport sit up and take notice.
Archer finished 12th in the 50km race with a time of 3:28.26. For someone who does not have a marathon time on record, meaning she jumped straight from the Half Marathon to 50km, that is an impressive performance and one worth keeping in mind.
Just how she will manage the extra 40km of the Comrades Marathon is anyone’s guess. But she will have been taken note of. Of that there is no doubt.
Men’s Race
Edward ‘Slender’ Mothibi (3/1) – South Africa
Edward Mothibi goes by the nickname ‘Slender’ because of his slim frame. Rarely has one so ‘slender’ been able to be such a formidable ultra-runner.
But there is strength in the wiry frame and that strength was evident in the 2019 Comrades Marathon, the last race proper before Covid-19 shut down the running world for two whole years.
It was that strength, both internally and externally, that allowed him to answer all the surges of Bongmusa Mthembu in the final stages of the 2019 Comrades Marathon and to be able to break away just before Polly Shortts; then hold on to beat a fast-finishing Mthembu and win.
The winning margin, a scant 22 seconds. Mothibi debuted at The Ultimate Human Race in 2018 and finished fourth. Mothibi has to be a favourite for The Ultimate Human Race on 28 August.
The 37-year-old has been getting stronger and faster since 2018 and will be tough to beat come race day. His range is incredible. An 8:32.04 best for 3000m run as recent as March 2021, an improvement of 3min on his marathon time from 2:16.47 in Potchefstroom at altitude in extreme temperatures in 2020 was lowered to 2:13.53 in 2021.
Mothibi anchored the Impala Plats team to a win at the 2019 JP Morgan Company Relay in San Francisco, blitzing a 15:48 for the 5.6km. This year Mothibi took 2 minutes off his 50km best in finishing 3rd at the Nedbank Runified 50km in Gqeberha in March with a time of 2:45.27 compared to the 2:47.03 of 2021. On 15 May, Mothibi won the Fortress REIT Half Marathon in Rustenburg in 65:39.
Bongmusa Mthembu (2/1) – South Africa
He’s one of the most well-liked athletes on the tour. Quietly spoken and with an incredible smile. Meet him at a race or a press conference or in the street and he is one of the most easy-going of people around.
In a race though, he is all business. Three Comrades victories (2014 -Down; 2017 – Up; 2018 – Down) Two Oceans winner in 2019, 4th in 2022, an individual silver and bronze in the men’s division of the World 100km Championships and team gold; and you have arguably one of the greatest ever ultra-runners to grace the roads.
Bongs, as he is affectionately known, was involved in an epic tussle with eventual winner Edward Mothibi in the 2019 Comrades Up Run. Many believed that the short time between the Two Oceans and Comrades Marathon (20 April to 9 June) cost him his third consecutive win and his fourth win at The Ultimate Human Race.
Mothibi had run substantially slower at the Two Oceans Marathon and many believe he was on fresher legs. 2022 could well be another titanic battle between these two giants of ultra-running.
Expect Bongs to be on the podium in Durban on 28 August. Two of his wins have come on the Down Run and 2022 is once again a Down Run. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Bongmusa Mthembu was able to spend some time in honing his speed and was able to bring his marathon time down from 2:23.37 to 2:17.31.
His build-up to this year’s race has seen him run his second fastest marathon time of 2:20.13 at the Best of Best Marathon in Durban on 27 February and his 4th place at the Two Oceans in 3:12.06 – his second fastest time ever at the Cape Town Race. Clearly Bongs is building up to another big race on 28 August.
Joseph Manyedi – South Africa
Manyedi will be another who will be looking for a top ten or better. Since 2018 the 39-year-old has improved in leaps and bounds. His best performance at the Comrades Marathon prior to 2019 was 110th in 2018.
That all changed in 2019 when he finished 5th. This came off the back of a win at Om die Dam in March. Later in the year, Manyedi represented South Africa at the World 50km Championships where he placed 11th in a time of 2:51.46. Manyedi has subsequently improved that time to 2:47.53 in 2021 and was 9th at this year’s Nedbank Runified 50km in March.
Henri Ansio (16/1) – Finland
The Fin, Ansio is dangerous on all terrains, the track, trail and road. Three times he has entered the gruelling Festival des Templiers trail race in France; and not once has he been outside the top ten with a 5th (2017), 3rd (2018) and 10th in 2021.
In the 6-hour Kaarina Track Ultra in April this year, Ansio was 3rd overall, covering a distance of 80.871km. He boasts a marathon best of 2:27.57. 2019 was his first-ever Comrades Marathon.
With his strength in both up and downhill running honed on the steep slopes of Millau in Black Causse area of France and armed with a 10km PB of 30:47 run in 2019, Ansio is going to be a thorn in the side of the field.
Marko Mambo (12/1) – Zimbabwe
At 51 one might be forgiven for discounting Zimbabwe’s Marko Mambo as a threat to the top ten. But that would be a big mistake. In 2019 he finished 8th in the Comrades Marathon.
In 2020 he was 5th at Om Die Dam. Mambo is a three-time winner of the Two Oceans Marathon, albeit in 2004, 2005 and 2008. But like a good wine, he seems to be getting better with age.
In 2012 he was 4th at the Comrades Marathon, his best result to date. In the last three editions the Senior Statesman of ultra-running finished 11th (2017), 5th (2018) and 8th in 2019. Ignore him at your peril. Although not likely to be challenging for a podium, Mambo will bring all his experience to The Ultimate Human Race, come 28 August.
Gaolatlhe Gordon Lesetedi – South Africa
Many will feel that Gordon Lesetedi is due a podium finish. From finishing 199th in 7:18.09 in 2013, the 37-year-old improved over the years to finish in the top ten for the first time in 2018 (6th) after missing out on a Gold Medal in 2017 when he finished 11th.
In 2019 he sprinted passed the cramping Nkosikhona Mhlakwana and finished 9th (5:52.40). Lesetedi won the Kaapsehoop Marathon in Nelspruit in 2017 improving his marathon PB from 2:40 to 2:28.39.
Siyabulela Mqambeli – South Africa
Mqambeli was the second runner to sprint past the cramping Mhlakwana and deny him a Gold Medal, a top ten and prize money in 2019. That result has been his best performance at one of the big Ultras in South Africa other than his 3rd place at the Legends Marathon (68km) in East London in 2018.
The Pitbull – Nkosikhona Mhlakwana, a major threat (11th in 2019) RSA
Nkosikhona Mhlakwana earned his title as the ‘Pitbull’ from his coach, Prodigal PK Khumalo, himself a top ten Comrades Marathon finisher on two occasions.
PK named his charge after the tenacious dog breed when Mhlakwana entered the finishing straight of the 2019 Comrades Marathon in 9th place but was literally felled by cramps and had to hold onto the advertising boards to not fall over.
Such was the agony and pain he felt, he had to watch two athletes go past him and what was an assured Gold Medal become the first Wally Hayward Medal recipient of the 2019 race.
It was heartache for Mhlakwana who was hoping for a Gold Medal in his debut in The Ultimate Human Race.
That experience though has spurred on the 30-year-old runner. In 2021 he lined up for four ultramarathons – the Ultra Trail Drakensberg Cup 62km (1st), The Nedbank Runified 50km (11th – 2:47.34), the Prince Mangosutho Buthelezi 52km (1st – 2:59.15) and 13th in the Ultra Trail Cape Town 100km. But what impressed the pundits was that win at the Prince Mangosutho Buthelezi 52km.
Mhlakwana took seven minutes off the previous record. He also took his marathon PB down from 2:18.40 to 2:16.32.
But what will have made everyone sit up and take notice was his toe-to-toe battle with Ethiopia’s Edndale Belachew at the 2022 Two Oceans Marathon. Only three seconds separated the pair at the finish line with the Ethiopian only breaking away once the two hit the grass of the finish straight at UCT.
The ‘Pitbull’ is no longer a Dark Horse but is now a serious threat to the two favourites, Bongmusa Mthembu and Edward Mothibi.
Jonas Makhele – South Africa
Makhele stunned the world in 2021 by finishing second in the Nedbank Runified 50km. An unknown runner, his finishing time of 2:42.14 is the third best time ever run over 50km and is the South African Record over the distance.
That run catapulted him onto the contenders list at any ultra. After placing 25th at the Nedbank Runified 50km in March this year, a disappointing result by his standards, Makhele finished 10th at the Two Oceans Marathon in April and once again gave notice of his ability after winning the Om Die Dam on 11 June with a 2:57.24.
Ntsindiso Mphakathi – South Africa
Ntsindiso Mphakathi is a newcomer to the world of ultra-running but is renowned as a tough nut. His three top positions from three starts at the Soweto Marathon is clear evidence of that.
For most of the race of the 2021 Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi 52km ultra he was leading and running at record pace. Only in the closing stages of the race was he passed by Nkosikhona Mhlakwana, but still finished well within the previous record and broke 3 hours. A mere seven seconds separated the two at the finish.
Boasting a marathon best of 2:18.41 (2020) and running 2:18.45 at the Best of Best Marathon in Durban clearly shows a man who is in form and dangerous. What may count against him is that he has never raced beyond the 52km mark.
That said though, he was third at the 2021 Nedbank Runified 50km, crossing the line in 2:42.17. The result saw him ranked third in the world in 2021 over 50km.
It also ranks him as 4th fastest ever over the distance. So while he may be a bit of a novice, he is not to be underestimated. Mphakathi won this year’s Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi 52km, clocking 3:00.45, only 83seconds off his time from 2021.
Msawenkosi Mthalane – South Africa
Ninth at this year’s Two Oceans Marathon in April and 4th at the Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi 52km in May, Mthalane also finished 8th at the Best of Best Marathon in Durban in February this year.
His times and results would suggest that he is a threat within the top ten at this year’s Comrade Marathon. Boasting a marathon best of 2:21.25 run in Cape Town in 2021, Mthalane clocked 2:22.56 at the Best of Best Marathon, 3:14.46 at Two Oceans and 3:02.52 at the Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi 52 this year.
David Gatebe (50/1) – South Africa
Few will forget the diminutive figure of David Gatebe flying down into Durban in 2016 and running a phenomenal 5:18.19 to set a new ‘Down Run’ Course Record.
In the process, Gatebe became the only athlete to win the SA Marathon Championship Title, the Two Oceans Marathon and the Comrades Marathon. Gatebe is a popular figure at the Comrades Marathon and cannot be ignored after his consistency at The Ulitmate Human Race.
While no longer in the shape to challenge for line honours, Gatebe will be a big factor for one of the ten Gold Medals.
Edndale Belachew (7/1) Ethiopia
Ethiopia’s Edndale Belachew is a novice to The Ultimate Human Race, but simply cannot be ignored. On debut he won the Two Oceans Marathon in 2022, looking very comfortable.
Belachew boasts a marathon best of 2:11.51, the fastest in the field, which he ran in Poland in 2018. The ease with which he held off runner up Nkhosikhona Mhlakwana at Two Oceans would indicate he had much left in the tank, but The Ultimate Human Race is a different scenario. So Belachew will be a dark horse, but one that simply cannot be ignored.
