SA duo win Two Oceans half

Johannesburg - Local runners dominated the Two Oceans half-marathon, with Xolisa Tyali and Rene Kalmer winning the men's and women's races in cold, wet conditions in Cape Town on Saturday morning.

Tyali broke clear in the approach to the finish, holding off Joel Mmone and Lucky Mohale to win a sprint finish in one hour, four minutes and 54 seconds (1:04.54).

Mmone was second in 1:05.01 and a fading Mohale took third place in 1:05.09, with eight SA men finishing among the top 10.

Kalmer, the only SA woman to have qualified for the marathon event at the London Olympic Games, won comfortably, smiling and waving to the crowd at the finish before she crossed the line in 1:15.02.

Her training partner, Irvette van Blerk, who will target the Olympic qualifier at the London Marathon later this month, finished second in 1:16.22.

Zimbabwean Rutendo Nyahora, third in 1:18.30, was the only foreign athlete among the top 10 women.

Results of the Two Oceans half-marathon in Cape Town on Saturday morning:

21km: Men: 1 Xolisa Tyali 1:04.54, 2 Joel Mmone 1:05.01, 3 Lucky

Mohale 1:05.09, 4 Tshamano Setone 1:05.22, 5 David Manya 1:05.50

Women: 1 Rene Kalmer 1:15.02, 2 Irvette van Blerk 1:16.22, 3 Rutendo

Nyahora 1:18.30, 4 Zintle Xiniwe 1:19.39, 5 Christine Kalmer 1:20.05