10 Mar 2025

Aobakwe Goitlogetswe won the male 21.1km race after clocking 1:20:59 while Kefilwe Galeitsewe was crowned the champion in the female category with 1:38.30, and both walked away with P3500 each at the second edition of the Kanye Marathon on Saturday. The race returns after a two-year break since its debut in 2022.
In an interview, Goitlogetswe said he undertook the race as part of his weekend runs and also to prepare for the upcoming BTC marathon scheduled for April 26.
He said even though the hilly terrain of Kanye was challenging, he had improved from his last performance at the Kazungula Bridge Marathon.
For Galeitsewe, a long break from training, emanating from work commitments, and unfavourable weather stalled her performance. However, she said she had her eyes set for the upcoming BTC marathon and Diacore, which are scheduled apart.
Thatayaone Kelapile (1:21:30) and Leaketsa Letlhogonolo (1:27:46) walked away with P2000 and P1000 for coming second and third in the male category, while the same was awarded to Lesedinyana Tumelo (1:44:55) and Onneile Dintwe (1:46:19) in the female category respectively.
For the 10km race, 19-year old Onkabetse Kotosi finished first with a time of 35:22 followed by Ntoko Kelepile (36:12) and Given Molefe in the male category, while a time of 46:08 put Mema Tiango in first position in the female category, followed by Lesedi Tumelo (51:23) and Refilwe Oagile (55:19) respectively.
 The 10km race came with P2000, P1000 and P750 for positions one, two and three respectively.  
One of the organisers, Gofaone Kebualemang said even though they recorded a slight decline of participants compared to the 2022 inaugural race, they were optimistic that the return of the marathon was positively received.
He attributed the decline in participation to limited preparation time, which he said they will address as they prepare for another marathon in September.
 “We did not have enough time to market the event hence we registered around 270 participants as compared to our 300 target.
 However, we intend to increase these numbers as we prepare for the full marathon in September, for which we are targeting atleast 700 athletes,” he said.
 He noted that apart from charity, the objective of the marathon was to promote and empower Kanye businesses and artists, in an endeavour to grow the local economy. ENDS