UEDF’S MICHAEL WINS VOC HALF MARATHON

MANZINI – Despite that he seemed to be losing some steam in the last 3 km, Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force (UEDF) athlete Michael Ndaba emerged as the champion of the inaugural VOC half marathon.

The UEDF runner managed to shake off his strong competitor in Kwazulu Natal’s Bongani Mavuso to take home the first prize of E1 500.
Ndaba stormed the finish line after 01:00:49 hours to win the race which started and finished at Zakhele Sports Ground in Manzini yesterday.

When the race started, the UEDF runner was just in the mix during the race which attracted over 1000 runners and he only upped the pace and paired with another UEDF runner Nkululeko Gama. The duo ran together for almost 15km before Mavuso caught up with them. The Kwazulu-Natal based runner overtook Gama about 6km before the finish line and started charging toward Ndaba who was leading for the better part of the race.

Mavuso seemed to gain more energy with each kilometre to the finish line and he took the lead with 5km before the finish line. He led with a distance of 50 metres until just 500m before the finishing point.

regained more energy

The unthinkable happened as Ndaba regained more energy and went past Mavuso and the latter failed to catch up with his pace until the winning point. The visiting athlete came second with a time of 01:01:06 hours while Gama completed the top three finishers with a time of 01:01:07 hours. The silver medallist received E400 less as compared to the champion’s prize while Gama pocketed E700.

Ndaba said his hard work had paid off.
“I had trained for this race. I used to run a distance of 40km in climbs and today it was like a walk in the park. However, I should say that Mavuso gave me a tough competition as he almost won the race with few kilometres to spare. I had to push myself to the limit to win the race,” the 2016 Imbube Half Marathon winner said.

Meanwhile, runner-up Mavuso said he thought the winner would run out of steam in the last stages of the race.
“I started with a low pace and increased my speed gradually as I surged toward the finishing point. I do not know where Ndaba got the energy to beat me at my game in the end,” the visiting South African runner said.

The bronze medallist, Gama, thanked Buffaloes Soldiers, UEDF and Mbabane Parkrun organisers for contributing towards his achievement in the race.
All the top three winners received monetary prizes and Bibles which were presented by Voice of the Church Board Chairman Pastor Nkosinathi Gumede.
The 21km route started at Zakhele Sports Ground and passed along places like Zakhali, Mathayini, Mkhiweni, Mabhodini, Ludwala and Prison. Only the top three results were available after the race.

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