Refeloe Solomons and Kelly van Vliet, two of Nelson Mandela Bay’s top road runners, hope to set personal records at the 1City Marathon in December.
Previously held at the Fairview Racecourse, the popular race will now take place on December 6 at Baywest Mall (entrance 4).
There are four different distances in the race: 42km, 21km, 10km and a 5km fun race.
Solomons of Nedbank Running Club finished second in 2024 with a time of 3:06:20.
This year, she hopes to finish on the podium once more and perhaps set a new personal best time.
Solomons, who won the Madibaz Half Marathon in 2025 and the Choose to Challenge at Baywest Mall, has been a formidable force in Gqeberha’s women’s division.
The 44-year-old athlete also won the first Local Choice Pharmacy Govan Mbeki 10km title after finishing first in the women’s division with a time of 37 minutes and 26 seconds.
“Preparations are going well,” Solomons said.
“I don’t know about a game plan since it’s a totally new course that I haven’t tested.
“If it was the same route, I would have planned to run a PB, and I would love to make the podium, but only time will tell.”
She eyes running her first sub-three-hour marathon in EPA.
Van Vliet, a fellow teammate from Nedbank Running Club, has advanced this year and will compete in the marathon after negotiating the 21km in 2024.
“I am running the 42km. I can’t say I’m 100% [ready].
“I’m scared, I won’t lie. I have done the mileage, but I haven’t even done a half-marathon for a year-and-a-half, so this is quite the jump.
“I may downgrade to the half at the last minute, but I think my team would be super mad at me.
“I ran the Vukani 15km race this weekend and plan to add on some after. We’ll see how it goes and then make the call.
“Running the distance is not the issue in the least. It’s just wanting a good time,” Van Vliet said.
Athletes will be able to pick a pacing bus (or group of runners) that will lead them to their personal best finish goals for the event.
Athletes will be able to pick a bus that suits their race finish time goal, with pacing buses arranged for sub-3hr 40mins, 4hr, 4hr 30mins, 5hr, and 5hr 30mins, the qualifying time for the Comrades Marathon and Two Oceans.
Both the marathon and half-marathon start at 5.30am.
The 10km will follow at 5.45am, with the 5km race beginning at 7am.
The organisers are hoping to pass 3,000 entries for the 2025 version of the race.
The Herald