Nampol dominates

Namibian Police Force athletes dominated the fifth edition of the Navachab Half Marathon at Karibib on Saturday, taking the top three places in the men’s and women’s race.
Kephas Kondjashili came first in a time of one hour, five minutes and four seconds (1:05:04), beating Matheus Kadhingula who came second in 1:05:05, while Shakiaxwe Jeremia was third in 1:06:01.
The women’s category saw Lavinia Haitope retaining the title she won last year with a time of 1:14:01. This year, she completed the race in 1:16:05.

Another NamPol athlete,Beata Naighambo came second in 1:17:04 and Leena Ekandjo, also from NamPol, came third in 1:17:06.Over 250 athletes participated in this year’s event. The male athletes started the race like a house on fire, as more than eight athletes opened up a big gap just six kilometres into the 21,1km race, but the three winning athletes extended the gap after 12km of running.

With three kilometres to go the trio increased their pace even more, breaking away from the pack, leaving Paulus Iyambo behind who finished fourth in a time of 1:06.05. Kondjashili said the route was easy and he was happy with the win.
“The route was flat but it was a bit tough when we came back because I had a strong group of athletes that broke out and it was not easy keeping the lead on the two hills. But I am happy I won the title which I also won in 2016,” he said.Haitope, who won the women’s race, said she did not have much of a challenge as she ran her own individual race.
“I won this race last year and winning it this year was good motivation and preparation for the Sanlam marathon which I will compete in in South Africa next week, despite my time being slow today,” she said.

Race organiser and regional sports officer for Erongo, Berthold Karumendu was satisfied with the outcome of the race.

“In terms of logistics, everything went accordingly, even though we did not have all the best athletes in the country that chose not to compete this year due to the Sanlam marathon which they are preparing for in Cape Town,” he said.