In what was perfect weather conditions for runners, the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality was the beautiful backdrop once again for a morning of record-breaking performances as Nedbank Running Club (NRC) athlete Emane Seifu Hayile set new women’s 50km world record on Sunday, 26 February 2023.
With the women setting off in the dark with the starters pistol fired at 05:30, it was evident that the pack were taking advantage of the perfect weather conditions as a pacemaker, Helalia Johannes, formed a group of six women which included last year’s champion Amelework Fikadu Bosho and Swede Hanna Lindholm who was making her debut over the ultra-marathon distance.
Passing halfway in 1:30:28, the group was down to 4 with Lindholm dropping off the pace and Tinebeb Ali and Hayile shadowing at the back of the pack. It wasn’t long after that Johannes’s pacemaker job was ending before the Namibian stepped off the course.
Hayile and Ali surged ahead, leaving Bosho on her own in third but Hayile kept gesturing to Ali to keep in her slipstream but the 22-year-old Ali found the pace too hard and with 13km to go, Hayile surged ahead.
Picking up the pace over the final 10km, Hayile remained unchallenged as she crossed the line victorious in a new world record, Ethiopian national record and continental record time of 3:00:30. Bosho came through for 2nd in 3:06:24 with Lindholm holding on for 3rd in a Swedish National record time of 3:08:56.
First South African across the line was Stella Marais who surprised everyone with her finish after starting the race as a pacemaker. “I am elated with today’s run because I honestly did not come here with the intention of finishing,” said Marais. “The agreed pace was 3:40 per km and the girls started much faster so I kept the pace until 30km and when I got there I found that I was still feeling ok so I decided to push on.”
Photo 1 Caption: In what was perfect weather conditions for runners, the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality was the beautiful backdrop once again for a morning of record-breaking performances as Nedbank Running Club (NRC) athlete Emane Seifu Hayile set new women’s 50km world record on Sunday, 26 February 2023. Photo: Supplied
With editing by gsport
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