Enoch Skosana: Cape Town Marathon cancellation boosts Soweto Marathon

Top athletes such as Gerda Steyn and Stephen Mokoka, who had not planned to run the People’s Race, will now make their debut in Soweto.

"After the cancellation of the Cape Town Marathon, we were so disappointed on our side as a federation. Remember Cape Town Marathon is not only for South Africa, it's an entire global event, so that people come to Africa to make sure that our economy grows,” Skosana said.

“Each and every event in road running helps our economy grow, so, on our side we were not so happy about the cancellation but thanks to the Soweto Marathon for making this happen because all the athletes that were supposed to run the Cape Town Marathon will come on Saturday to run Soweto Marathon. 

“The cancellation was not good for us for the image of the sport, that's all I can say."

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The retired long-distance runner encouraged elite athletes to take full advantage of the opportunity to compete and end their season on a strong note. 

He added that the Soweto route is relatively flat and capable of producing fast times.

"When you check the course of the Soweto Marathon, it's a tough course to run and we want to urge all the athletes to come and run in respective of the Soweto flat course where you can run 2:08 or 2:15, 2:20 for the ladies but I'm edging the elite athletes to come and grab the opportunity to run Soweto Marathon with the support of African Bank," he added.