Get ready for Caroline and Colleen show

The return to “Chappies”, the absence of Russian athletes and hope for a long-awaited Cape victory are key elements of an intriguing 47th Two Oceans Marathon.

Cape Town - The return to “Chappies”, the absence of Russian athletes, the legacy of Chet Sainsbury and hope for a long-awaited Cape victory are key elements of an intriguing 47th Two Oceans Marathon on Saturday, but expect the “Caroline and Colleen show” to steal the headlines.

Full notices have long been posted for both the marathon and half marathon, with over 27 000 runners expected to take part in on Saturday.

Last year, the aftermath of mountain fires forced organisers to return to the Ou Kaapse Weg route, used between 2000 and 2003 when Chapman’s Peak Drive was under repair, and there is little doubt that runners welcome the return to the traditional route over Chappies and Constantia Nek.

The revelations last year of drug abuse among Russian athletes led to their suspension from IAAF-sanctioned events, and the Two Oceans is thus devoid of Russians for the first time since 1993.

Until 2015, Russians had won eleven of the last 13 Two Oceans 56km women’s titles, with twins Elena and Olesya Nurgalieva reaping the lion’s share. But Caroline Wöstmann ended the Russian reign when she overhauled Nina Podnebesnova in the final stages of last year’s race.

Sainsbury, who took the Two Oceans to world status, matching and even surpassing the Comrades Marathon for its organisational excellence, recently lost his battle with cancer and many runners will be dedicating their races to him.

“I’ll be running with a Sainsbury medal in my pocket,” said nine-time- Comrades winner Bruce Fordyce. “It just won’t be the same without him.”

Cape artist and marathoner Don Hartley won the Two Oceans in 1972 and 1973, but no local has been able to repeat that feat in 44 years. Khayelitsha’s Mthandazo Qhina, 38, whose last four Oceans performances read sixth, second, ninth and fourth, hopes to change that but he will be up against a strong African field.

But the return of Caroline Wöstmann, to defend her title, as well as the debut performance of one of the best athletes ever produced by South Africa, Colleen de Reuck, are mouth-watering prospects. Few who witnessed it will forget Wöstmann’s closing kilometres in last year’s race, when from outside the top 10 at 20km she sliced through the field to take the lead 4km from the finish and win by almost four minutes in 3 hours 41 minutes.

Less than two months later, Wöstmann had done it again, running the fastest ever “up” Comrades in terms of time per kilometre, with only a longer-than-usual route denying her Olesya Nurgalieva’s record.

At just 16, De Reuck set a South African half-marathon record and she still tops the national marathon list on unaided courses, courtesy of her marathon victory in 2:26:35 at the 1996 Berlin Marathon.

Now living in and competing for the US, for whom she won a world cross-country bronze medal in 2003 at the age of 39, De Reuck continues to perform at an elite level. She recently ran 2:49:57 in the US Olympic Marathon trials in Los Angeles at 51 years old and won her age group in the World Iron Man Championship in Hawaii in December.

While short of the speed De Reuck enjoyed a decade ago, her strength remains, but is untested over ultra-marathon distances.

Both Wöstmann and De Reuck have their sights set on the Comrades Marathon in May, but such is the quality and competitiveness of the pair, it will be no surprise to see them on the podium on Saturday, with Wöstmann expected to defend her title.

Three athletes capable of upstaging Wöstmann and De Reuck are Charne Bosman, who shares Wöstmann’s coach, Lindsay Parry, while KZN athlete and frequent Cape resident Tanith Maxwell will be looking to improve on her excellent debut last year, when she placed third in 3:45:18. Simone Staicu of Hungary, who won in 2003, can’t be written off either.

There is little to suggest that the men’s race will be anything other than a high-intensity competition among the best ultra-marathoners in Southern Africa. Defending champion Motlokoa Nkhabutlane is one of the strongest runners from Lesotho and at 31, his chances are good for making it two in a row.

With consistent performers Stephen Muzhingi, Mike Fokoroni, Mabuthile Lebopo and South Africa’s Claude Moshiywa all past their 40th birthdays, it could be 34-year-old Lesotho contender Moeketsi Mosuhli, third in 2013 and last year, and 2015 runner-up Collen Makaza, along with 25-year-old Ethiopian Mohammed Hussein and Cape Town’s Qhina, who contest line honours with Nkhabutlane most fiercely.

The half marathon starts at 05h50 while the 56km gets underway at 06h30, both in Newlands Main Road. First, half marathons are expected at the UCT Green Mile sports fields shortly after 06h50 with the ultra-marathon winner likely to cross the line soon after 09h30.

Friday’s 24km trail race starts outside Jameson Hall at 06h30 with the 12km trail race off at 07h30.

Cape Argus