South African's Johannes Kekana, says I am afraid this will be my final race in Comrades

It's gold or bust for Johannes Kekana at this year's Comrades Marathon, the veteran runner saying he is taking a final tilt at golden glory in The Ultimate Human Race. “I am afraid this will be my final race in Comrades if I fail to make it into the top ten this year,” the Boxer Athletics Club runner said yesterday. While he is one of the country's best in the standard marathon, Kekana has not made great shakes in the ultra-distances. His best run in Comrades came way back in 2013 when he finished 5th in a time of 5:46:27. Before and thereafter, Kekana never broke six hours. Why then is he putting his cards out on the table as he has this time around? “I am feeling like I did back in 2012 and 2013. One of the main reasons I've not had good Comrades runs is the lack of proper camp because of not having sponsors. In 2012 (he completed Comrades in 6hrs and three seconds) and 2013, I was running for Bonitas who organised camps for us. I also did very well in both the Two Oceans and City to City.” He has had a good camp in Mpumalanga and is looking forward to next Sunday.

posted Tuesday May 29th