Madina Biktagirova | TheFinalSprint.com - Track & Field, Marathons, Racing News, Training Advice, Elite Athlete Blogs, Interviews, Podcasts, Videos and More!

Lead Stories: Friday, December 5, 2008

Netshifhefhe, Biktagirova to Defend Two Oceans Titles

Posted March 18th, 2008 at 1:00 PM by Bob Ramsak

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Trail / Ultra

The 39th Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon, to be run over 56 km this Saturday, March 22, in Cape Town, South Africa, will be momentous for a number of reasons. Foremost among these is that the event will have a new race director for the first time in 28 years, with Rowyn James succeeding Chet Sainsbury, who retired after last year’s Two Oceans, which is always held the Saturday before Easter.

The race also has a new technical sponsor in PUMA, while both defending champions, Bethuel Netshifhefhe and Madina Biktagirova, will be returning.

Almost 19,000 runners have entered the ultramarathon and the accompanying half-marathon, which will be held for the 11th time. The shorter race has attracted a record field of 11,213, making it South Africa’s biggest half-marathon.
Read the rest of this entry »

Comment on this post | Permalink

Edith Masai To Highlight Singapore Marathon

Posted December 1st, 2007 at 10:48 PM by Jeanie Rebb

Section: News & Results, Marathons

Running royalty comes to the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon this Sunday (December 2), in the person of Edith Masai of Kenya. A former 800 metres runner, Masai was a late developer in distance racing, winning her three world cross country titles and a world champs bronze on the track in the early years of the new century, when well into her thirties.

She only made her marathon debut two years ago, with victory in Hamburg in 2.27.06, and finished a highly creditable eighth in the recent World Championships in Osaka in August. At age 40!
Read the rest of this entry »

3 comments, add yours | Permalink

Race Recap: Spar Mercury Women’s 10-K Challenge

Posted June 25th, 2007 at 5:00 AM by Bob Ramsak

Section: News & Results

René Kalmer, a 26-year-old teacher from Krugersdorp, scored an emphatic victory in the second race of the Spar Grand Prix Series, storming away from the start and clocking a personal best of 32:54 in the Spar Mercury Women’s 10-k Challenge. After also having won the first race in the series, in Port Elizabeth on May 5, Kalmer now tops the points table with 66 points, 13 ahead of Poppy Mlambo, who finished third here.

Apart from Kalmer, the highlight of the day was produced by 42 year-old Russian Madina Biktagirova, who was sixth in a superb 34:59. Just a week ago, in the same stadium where this race also finished, Kingsmead, she finished third in the Comrades Marathon over a distance almost nine times farther than this.

Fellow veteran Grace de Oliveira, who won the last gold medal in the Comrades, was 24th here. Kalmer’s younger sister Christine, a student in civil engineering at the University of Arkansas, finished eighth in 35:27, her fastest time since 2004.
Read the rest of this entry »

Comment on this post | Permalink

Russians & South Africans poised to dominate Comrades Marathon

Posted June 13th, 2007 at 10:13 AM by Bob Ramsak

Section: News & Results, Marathons

comrades marathon.gif South African men have won the last three “down” Comrades Marathons, but it seems likely that a Russian will be first across the line this Sunday, June 17, when the 82nd running of the world’s largest ultramarathon takes place between Pietermaritzburg and Durban. The distance of the race this year is 89.3 km.

The ultramarathon will be run on a Sunday for the first time in history. This unpopular decision, widely seen in the running community as the result of the Comrades Marathon Association bowing under political pressure from governing body Athletics South Africa, has led to a decrease of about 15 percent in entries. The last few years the race was held on Youth Day (June 16), a highly politicized public holiday in post-apartheid South Africa.

Foreign women have dominated the Comrades in recent years, with the last local victory coming in 1998 when Rae Bisschoff won. Most pundits expect that this year will be no different.

Read the rest at our partner site: TrailFit.com

3 comments, add yours | Permalink

Russian women, South African men dominate Two Oceans Ultramarathon

Posted April 8th, 2007 at 10:11 AM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons

“I feel like a little hare amongst the lions.” This was the way Hungarian Simona Staicu expressed her feelings at the pre-race media conference the day before the Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon. Flanking her were three of the favourites: the Nurgalieva twins, Yelena and Olesya, and defending champion Tatyana Zhirkova, all Russians.

Two more Russian “lions” were waiting in the wings, and the next day they took first and second in their first attempt at South Africa’s second biggest ultramarathon: Madina Biktagirova and Liliya Yadzhak.
Read the rest of this entry »

Comment on this post | Permalink