In near perfect running conditions, Teboho Noosi and Bianca Tarboton not only successfully defended their titles in the 2019 Sanlam Cape Town Marathon 22km Peace Trail Run, but both broke their own course records with Noosi making it a hat trick of wins.

Just under 1000 runners hit the trails on the slopes of Signal Hill at 07h30. While for most this was a pleasant outing, for Teboho Noosi it was all business. Noosi took no prisoners as he immediately shot into the lead and progressed to destroy his opposition. By the time he hit the trails, Noosi was already leading the race. Through the first check point of 8.5km the defending champion had a lead over Norwegian Borger Melsom of over a minute. His lead grew all the time and at 15km Melsom had dropped 5th with Siboniso Soldaka moving into second, some 1:10 behind Noosi.

Clearly Noosi was leaving nothing to chance and continued to hammer the pace, eventually coming home in 1:25.40 – some 2 minutes and 50 seconds inside his own course record of 1:28.30 from 2017. Noosi took his third title on the trot. Soldaka also came in under the previous record, finishing in 1:26.15. Siviwe Nkombi rounding out the top three (1:30.52).

“I took control from the gun,” said Noosi. “I knew early on that I was in good shape and decided to push for my record. I am really happy to break it by such a margin.”

Showing her class, Bianca Tarboton raced away with the women’s race. Just as in the men’s race Tarboton took control early on in the race by surging up the climb to the bottom of Packs Track before the runners had even hit the trail. She extended her lead up the climb to Signal Hill and consolidated her lead as she headed off to the Glen. By 8.5km she had a 1:41 lead over trail legend Landie Greyling who is returning to form after the recent birth of her first child. Traboton came home in 1:45.31 to win the 22km Ladies race, taking 29 seconds off her own record from 2018.

Greyling held on to second place, with triathlete, Vicky van der Merwe rounding out the top three.

“I had no idea what was happening behind me,” said Tarboton. “I just went off, ran my own race and kept going. Breaking the record was a bonus for me.”

The 12km Peace Trail run was won by Admire Rushika and Lijan van Niekerk in the men’s and women’s races respectively.

“Trail running has become such a big part of running globally that it is simply impossible not to include a trail race when you host a big event, and Cape Town has so much to offer. This is more of a ‘sprint’ for the trail runners, but it is always good to see how popular the two races are,” says race ambassador, Elana van Zyl – Meyer.

Results 22km Peace Trail Run
Men
1. Teboho Noosi 1:25.40 (New Course Record)
2. Siboniso Soldaka 1:26.15
3. Siviwe Nkombi 1:30.52
4. Gershwill Jacobs 1:32.35
5. Borger Melsom 1:34.30

Women:
1. Bianca Tarboton 1:45.31
2. Landie Greyling 1:54.15
3. Vicky van der Merwe 2:00.50
4. Amy Mathew 2:07.26
5. Melissa Da Silva Gouveia 2:09.29

Results 12km Peace Trail Run
Men:
1. Admire Rushika 50:01
2. Pule Tjaone 50:18
3. Francois Maquassa 50:23

Women:
1. Lijan van Niekerk 1:04.05
2. Maphuti Phaka 1:05.55
3. Natalie Smit 1:13.12

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