Manja crossed the line in a superb 2:13:32, only 9 second behind Ethiopian winner Asefa Bekele who broke the tape in 2:13:23. Joe Kiptoo from Kenya followed in third position at the 39th annual running of the marathon, which attracted close to 20 000 runners.

 

Pio Mpolokeng, former Dublin Marathon winner and currently NRC development coach in Klerksdorp is very proud of his athletes. “My boys ran well. It is a job well done for Manja after a long preparation. He made the Green Dream Team proud,” said Mpolokeng.

 

Unfortunately teammates Joel Mmone and Philimon Mathiba did not finish the race after Mathiba picked up and injury and Mmone suffered from stomach problems.

 

Manja has had an excellent year of running. After winning the Soweto Half Marathon last year he continued to impress and took another win at the highly competitive Dis Chem Half Marathon in Bedfordview in January of this year.

 

The 27-year-old Klerksdorp athlete also recently raced home to his fourth win and sixth successive podium position in Cape Town’s annual Gun Run in Green Point. Manja won in 1:02.58, the third-fastest winning time ever, and just 27 seconds outside Joel Mnone’s 2015 course record.