After winning the 95th Comrades Marathon, Tete Dijana (35), a long-distance runner from Mahikeng in the North West province, wins the 2023 Nedbank Runified Marathon. At the Nedbank Runified 50km in Gqeberha on Sunday, Tete Dijana successfully transitioned to the 50km distance by breaking the men’s record in 2:39:03. The 95th Comrades Marathon champion has only recently started running marathons, but he has already created history by breaking Stephen Mokoka’s previous record.
Early on, many prominent runners fell off the pace, and by the time the men approached the last 10 km of their five-lap race, only Tete Dijana, his Nedbank RC teammate Onalenna Khonkobe, and Zimbabwean Tonny Skink, running in the Maxed Elite colours, remained strong in the race. All three men broke their personal best marathon timings as they crossed the finish line in 2:12:37, but Tete Dijana was the first to score while Tonny Skink fell back.
Onalenna Khonkobe made every effort to hold on, but with 3 km to go, the invisible elastic band eventually gave way, and Tete Dijana took off. When Tete Dijana crossed the finish line in 2:39:03, he broke Stephen Mokoka’s previous 50-kilometer world record. Onalenna Khonkobe hung on for second place, 37 seconds back with Tonny Skink holding on for third in a new Zimbabwean national record of 2:40:03.
All 3 men finished under the previous world record. “I didn’t expect to break the record,” Dijana said with a smile in his postrace interview with SuperSport. “Running fast like this for me it’s a shock, I told the guys we should work together so that we can break the record,” said Dijana. Tete Dijana not only began the year by breaking Stephen Mokoka’s 50-kilometer world record by finishing in 2:39:03, but he also received the Premier’s Special Award at the North West Sports Awards on February 25 at Sun City. Dijana won the Comrades Marathon in 2022.
At the Comrades Marathon in 2022, Dijana and Mothibi ran side by side for a portion of the second half of the marathon. Dijana eventually took the lead with less than 10 kilometres remaining, winning in 5:30:38, more than three minutes ahead of Edward Mothibi, who came in second.
