The Moore Night Run produced a thrilling race through the streets of Stellenbosch on Wednesday evening with Deon Hendricks just edging out Amos Nyonga for the win in a quick time.
The popular annual night race drew a big field of 1 400 entrants to the scenic Winelands town for the 5km and 10km events.
Up front, Hendricks, from the Athletics Academy, blitzed around the course in 29 minutes and 50 seconds to edge out his Boxer Athletics Club rival by just two seconds. Chasing Hendricks and Nyonga home was Eerste Rivier’s Raydon Balie and Sanlam’s Danzil Paulse, who finished with times of 30:41 and 30:44 respectively, while Nkosinathi Madyo rounded out the top five.
In the women’s race, Vicky van der Merwe was able to enjoy a relatively easy win over her Maties teammate Mia Steytler. Van der Merwe cruised home in 36.53 but Steytler had to work hard to see off the challenge of Georgia Grobler and the local Stellenbosch University student ended up just two seconds ahead of Grobler with a time of 38.14.
In the 5km event, Louw van den Heever (18.54) took the win ahead of Tambu-Dennis Muokwa (19.16) with Ga van Manen (19.22) third, while Suzaan Hobson (22.46) was the first woman ahead of junior Connor Perfett (23.15) and veteran Anel Mostert (23.30).
While the speedsters were chasing time through the tree-lined streets of Stellenbosch, there were well over a thousand other runners of all shapes, sizes and ages taking part and the results provide ample proof of a vast array of ability — although it has to be said that some of the backmarkers could have been significantly quicker had they not been enjoying the festival atmosphere so much.
The event was about more than simply providing a platform for the racers to show off their ability, with a portion of each entry fee going to the Stellenbosch Athletic Club’s development programme and, as one official said on Wednesday, “the smiles on the faces of so many of the competitors was proof that you can have fun doing something for a good cause.”
10km results
Men
1 Deon Lee Hendricks 29.50
2 Amos Nyonga 29.52
3 Raydon Balie 30.41
4 Danzil Paulse 30.44
5 Nkosinathi Madyo 31.05
6 Philani Sengce 31.54
7 Andre Afrika 32.01
8 Akhoma Mdaka 32.19
9 William Kaptein 32.53
10 Dullan Solomons 32.54
Female
1 Vicky van der Merwe 36.53
2 Mia Steytler 38.14
3 Georgia Grobler 38.16
4 Sunel Jacobs 38.50
5 Lara Rossouw 39.19
6 Surea Hendrikse 39.32
7 Marisa Agnello 41.30
8 Chantel Nienaber 41.42
9 Belinda Noades 42.00
10 Laura Taylor 42.04
5km
Men
1 Louw van den Heever 18.54
2 Tambu-Dennis Muokwa 19.16
3 Ga van Manen 19.22
4 Jimie Sher 19.26
5 Louis Terblanche 19.50
6 Thato Matona 20.34
7 Jacques Wolmarans 20.47
8 Nicholas Malherbe 20.49
9 Juan van Zyl 21.00
10 Juan Smith 21.17
Female
1 Suzaan Hobson 22.46
2 Connor Perfett 23.15
3 Anel Mostert 23.30
4 Gabriella Weyer-Henderson 23.32
5 Olivia Schwartz 24.06
6 Heleen Rossouw 24.15
7 Elanza Theron 24.15
8 Amy Pettipher 24.20
9 Emma Green 24.32
10 Marike van der Watt 25.11
