Ruben Indongo beat veteran Luketz Swartbooi by a mere three seconds to win the final leg of the Old Mutual Victory Races in Windhoek on Saturday. Indongo, who runs professionally in France from his home base in Marseille, was back in Namibia for a short holiday and managed to upstage Namibia’s top local marathon athletes to win the first prize of N$1 000. But it was not easy as he was pushed all the way by the 43-year-old Swartbooi, before he managed to pull away in the final stages of the 21km road race. Johannes Naitembu finished third in 1:08:07, while Erich Goeieman came fourth in 1:08:35.
There was not much to separate the leading runners at the start as a group of about seven runners set a strong pace up the Daan Viljoen hills. They included Indongo, Swartbooi, Naitembu, Goeieman, the defending Victory Races champion of 2008, Frans Hosea and Edward Kuanivi, who recently won the PriceWaterhouseCoopers National 15km Road Running Championships.
After the turnaround point on the Daan Viljoen road, Indongo stepped up the pace and managed to open up a gap on the rest of the leader, who gradually fell further behind. The nuggety Swartbooi however came back in the final stages to close in on the 28-year-old Indongo, but Indongo held on for the victory.
Indongo was full of praise for Swartbooi after the race, saying that he had upstaged Namibia’s up and coming youngsters.
“The race was very tough and the course was not easy, with a lot of hills. But I am very proud of Luketz Swartbooi – he’s a veteran now but he’s still going strong so I’m very proud of him. I’d just like to tell the youngsters to really work hard because it seems that there are still no upcoming stars. I have confidence in a guy like Edward Kuanivi, he showed he has a good future, but he must just work a bit harder and get someone to support him,” he said.
Indongo added that he would donate his first prize of N$1 000 to the Moira Grace Orphanage, because ‘the children needed the money more than me.’
Naigambo wins women’s marathon
Beata Naigambo won the women’s half marathon in 1:17:38, finishing well ahead of Helena Iipinge, who came second in 1:19:54, while Rachel Akukuthela came third in 1:22:19.
Iipinge managed to keep up with Naigambo over the first 10km, but after the halfway mark Naigambo gradually increased her lead to comfortably win the race, despite suffering from a groin injury.
Naigambo was in a bit of discomfort after the race, but said she should be ready to compete in the women’s marathon at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin, Germany in two weeks’ time.
“It was a difficult race because I was suffering from a groin injury and Helena gave me a strong challenge. She is a strong woman,” she said.
“But I came through and I will now prepare for the World Championships in Berlin,” she added.
The gold medal in the junior men’s category was awarded to Werner Nghipopi who crossed the finish line in a swift time of 1:18:43,9, while Lavinia Haitope won the gold medal in the junior women’s category in a time of 1:28:29,9.
The Windhoek leg brought to an end the 2009 series of the Old Mutual Victory Races, after the first two legs took place in Oshakati and Swakopmund. The Oshakati race attracted 306 athletes, while 386 athletes participated in Swakopmund. The Windhoek leg also saw a good turnout with 362 athletes participating.
The overall winners over the three legs still have to be determined and a lot of prize money will be at stake. The first placed male and female runners will each receive N$10 000, while the second placed athletes will receive N$5 000 each and the third placed athletes N$3 000 each.