Bekele wins Mandela Marathon

Johannesburg - Ethiopian Getachew Bekele won the second Nelson Mandela Marathon in 2:29:48, ahead of over 2000 runners in the Howick area on Sunday.

Nedbank runner David Rasefeko was second in 2:30:50 and Sikhumbuzo Seme followed in third in 2:31:25.

In the women's race, Catherine Skosana seemed to have the race in the bag until the final 10km when Zimbabwean sisters Chiyedza and Lizih Chokore made their move.

It was Chiyedza who proved to be the stronger of the two sisters on the climb up to the Howick junction and she broke the tape in 3:06:20 seconds to set a new course record.

Lizih finished second in 3:08:29 and Skosana crossed the line for third place in 3:09:38.

Patience Khumalo, who collapsed metres before the finish, was forced to crawl across the line and finished in 3:12:57 for seventh position.