Mapanado, Dlamini earn podium finishes at Loskop Marathon
Two young athletes from Mpumalanga made the department proud when they achieved podium finishes at the 30TH edition of the Loskop Marathon recently.
Hamilton Mapanado and Cynthia Dlamini finished third and second, respectively in the 21-kilometre race, which took place on April 16 at Loskopdam Resort outside Middelburg. Mapanado’s time of 01:17:51 earned him bronze in the men’s race, while Dlamini notched up silver in a time of 01:37:06 in the women’s race.
“We are extremely proud of the achievements of the runners,” says MEC Norah Mahlangu-Mabena, adding that the department’s investment in the marathon is starting to pay dividends. The department is the main sponsor and it also runs a waterpoint at the 18-kilometre mark of the marathon. This year the department took 190 athletes to the popular marathon, which was made up of 100 school-going athletes and 90 out of school athletes. The exercise was designed to develop road-running interest and provide a platform to those who are keen to take up road running.“We are hoping these two athletes will in the future do the ultra-marathon,” concludes Mahlangu-Mabena.
