Jenet Mbhele, a long-distance runner, has decided to host this year’s Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon, who is coming to take out some of the grays in the Comrades Marathon that will be held in June.
Mbhele (30) who is one of the black female runners in South Africa who do well in long distance races, has confirmed that she will not participate in the Two Oceans of 56km which will be run on April 11, in Cape Town.
Instead, he will use two races to prepare for the 87km Comrades which will be run on June 14 from Durban to Pietermaritzburg. He will open the year by warming up with a 21km race, the Mfundo Arnold Lushaba Half Marathon, followed by the 52km Prince Mangosuthu Ultra Marathon, which will be run on April 26.
The Lushaba Half Marathon, which includes a distance of 10km, will be run on Sunday at 6 am, starting from Sibanini Sports Ground, Mzumbe, and ending at this stadium.
This race named after the former mayor of Mzumbe Municipality, Mfundo Lushaba, this year will be run for the fifth time since 2022 it will be run fully as a half marathon.
“I will run my first race this year, by running the Mfundo Lushaba Half Marathon, which is one of the races I will use in my preparations to run Comrades in June. I will not run Two Oceans, because we have not planned it with my coach, Thami Khuboni,’ said Mbhele.
“In its place, I will return to Prince Mangosuthu, which I ran last year and I did well in it, taking second place, which I intend to use more in preparation for Comrades.”
Mbhele is among the female runners who are being watched in the Mfundo Lushaba Marathon as last year she came second in this race with a time of 1:20:41, following Malineo Mahloko from Lesotho who won the race with a time of 1:20:17.
“My biggest wish this year is to get another gold in the Comrades, by finishing in the first five, which I believe will inspire many other black female runners to do what I am doing,” continued Mbhele who left Xcel Running Club last year and returned to his old club, Umzimkhulu Striders.
She placed fourth in Two Oceans, which she runs for the first time in 2024, last year she took seventh place among women in the Comrades Marathon.
She is in a position to make history this year if she gets another gold by being the first black female runner to get four golds in this race, as she already has three.