MELUSI SIHLONGONYANE

MANZINI – Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force (USDF) athlete Melusi Sihlongoyane defended the ‘Tuff One’ title yesterday.

The 22-year-old finished the 21km race in 1:05:33 hours to outpace the over 600 athletes who entered for the race. He took the lead from the start of the race at Zakhele Sports Ground and never surrendered it until he crossed the finish line. Sihlongonyane broke a record during the race. He clocked the best time ever in the event that started as an 18km race in the past years. He was closely followed by Swazi Slojos’ Michael Ndaba, who is based in South Africa. Ndaba finished on 1:06:12 hours. USDF athletes dominated the race as eight athletes were in the top 10.

In the ladies section, Royal Swaziland Police (RSP) athlete Winile Mnisi also came first for the third time. She finished in 1:30:03 hours and second was Simangele Muhlambi in 1:36:14 hours.

The race organiser, Tokky Hou, said they were impressed with the standard showed by the local athletes. "The local athletes, especially the USDF athletes, did well during the race. We are happy that some South Africans showed up. The attendance was the best this year and we hope to have a more improved race next year," she said.

The race was sponsored by Sports Houze and Coca Cola. Other partners were Railway, Nedbank, Mbabane Motors, Spar and Umhlambanyatsi Social team.

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