First of the stars reaches Mumbai

Johannesburg-based Johannes Kekana on Wednesday was the first of the elite athletes to arrive for the Mumbai International Marathon, startin...

Johannesburg-based Johannes Kekana on Wednesday was the first of the elite athletes to arrive for the Mumbai International Marathon, starting February 15. 31-year-old Kekana, who took to competitive running when he was 27 — really late by any standards — is the current holder of the All-African Games marathon title (October 2003). On that occasion, he took the gold with a timing of 2 hours 25 minutes and 01 seconds. He’s also won the 2002 Jackie Gibson Marathon with a time of 2h 30m 19s,

When The Indian Express caught up with him, Kekana said, ‘‘I spent most of my first day in Mumbai sleeping. I haven’t looked at the route yet.’’

Kekana idolises South Africa’s Josiah Thugwane, the gold medal winner at the 1996 Olympics, who is also running the marathon here. ‘‘I have run with him many times before and I really look forward to it,’’ he said.

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Kekana, who has only five marathons behind under his heels, picks the Prague Marathon run last year as his most memorable one. ‘‘I ran a tactical race at Prague. I started behind most of the runners and there were a lot of Kenyans running. I managed to finish seventh eventually,’’ he recalled.

What makes the marathon so special for Kekana? ‘‘Unlike team sports like football and cricket, long distance running is about individuals. You are on your own and it is totally up to you. There are no coaches to guide you,’’ he explains. He picks the post 37-km mark of the marathon as the toughest stretch for him. ‘‘It’s the last 5 km that you really need to push yourself,’’ he said.

Despite finishing second at the Cape Town Peninsular Marathon (2002) with a time of 2h:14m:37s, the wiry African is not ready to make any assumptions about where he is likely to finish at the Mumbai Marathon. ‘‘You can never tell in a marathon. It’s been three months since I ran my last marathon (the All-African Games in Abuja, Nigeria) and I have been training since for Mumbai,’’ he said.