South Africa’s Stephen Mokoka is the new world 50km record holder after running Nedbank Runified 50km – a World Athletics Elite Label road race – in Gqeberha.
The marathon set the new world record when he clocked 2:40:13 to break the men’s world record.
Given the increasing popularity of 50km road races, the decision to add the distance to the list of events for which world records are recognized was made at the 225th World Athletics Council meeting in Tokyo in July. Negasa’s 2:42:07 was then ratified as the inaugural men’s world 50km record at the start of this year, while the 3:04:24 run by South Africa’s Irvette van Zyl in the same 2021 event was ratified as the world 50km record for a women-only race.
That time had been the target for athletes in Sunday’s Nedbank #Runified 50km but while it remained out of reach, Ethiopia’s Amelework Fikadu Bosho claimed a dominant women’s race win with her 3:04:58 performance.
Kenya’s Shelmith Muriuki was second in 3:08:30, while Van Zyl was third in 3:13:23. In the men’s race, Tete Dijana was runner-up to Mokoka, clocking 2:44:08, with their compatriot Edward Mothibi third in 2:45:27