Ramoseka wins Francistown beMOBILE marathon

Chakalisa Dube | Tuesday February 17, 2015 18:00

 

Ramoseka strode home in 2:25:11 to win the open main 42 km category race of the inaugural marathon.

Kenyan Stanley Teimet came second in 3:06:36 while Gaolese Bagotsi came third in 3:55:49.

A veteran marathoner, having won several honours including the Bosele marathon in 2010, Ramoseka said there was no competition.

“I did face a bit of competition in the first 21 minutes, and from there I opened a notable gap until I finished.

“Maybe lack of competition was because of a few participants in the category especially those with experience,” said SSKB athletics club member after his triumph.

The veteran runner said that he was confident that the competition would improve as the marathon grew.  Ramoseka said that he was impressed with his performance at the race.

“ It is my first race this year and I have not trained that much after the festive season. I feel that I did well though my momentum was not that good.

“ The only main challenge I experienced is that I went the first 15 km of the race without water, which made it hard for me to push hard, but all in all I am impressed with my performance because I am yet to reach full fitness.”

Although Ramoseka said he was still not aware of his competition schedule this year, he said that the race would help him prepare for future competitions.

“ I may go to the world military games in South Korea sometime this year, so I have to prepare so that in case I go I will be ready.

“The fact that I am the first person to win the race in the main open category is also a confidence booster going forward,” he explained.

In the women’s 42 km open main category, Zimbabwean Tabitha Tsatsa won the race in 3:06:22 followed by Maitshwarelo Badumetse in 3:07:13.

All the other participants pulled out of the race leaving the duo to fight it out to the finish line.

Tsatsa said: “This is my first race for the year. I believe I did well even though the competition was stiff from the other lady I was running with. I won because of experience. “I think when you are experienced you are able to make calculations as to when to increase speed and to reduce speed based on the variety of terrains you are using during the race. Poor calculations disturbs your momentum,” she said.  “Young runners are agile, but not good in calculating their speed. I think that is why I won (today) against the young lady.

“She was not that good when it came to calculating her speed to suite her terrain,” Tsatsa said referring to Badumetse.

Tsatsa has won several marathons in Botswana including the highly acclaimed annual Phikwe Bosele marathon, which she won in 2012.  She came second at the highly rated Old Mutual Two Oceans marathon held in South Africa annually in 2013.

Both Ramoseka and Tsatsa walked away with a trophy and P8, 000 in cash.

Second runners-up got P5, 000 in addition to a trophy. Position two runners earned P3, 000 and a trophy, with the fourth-placed runners earning P 1, 000 as appreciation for efforts displayed.

All the top 10 runners in the 42 km race walked away with cash incentives.

There was also cash incentives for winners in the 21 km and 10 km category. All runners got medals of appreciation after they completed racing.  The sponsors, beMOBILE had forked out P500, 000 for the marathon.