Four accomplished Welkom runners took podium position in the annual Trojan Om Die Dam ultramarathon that took place on Saturday 15 March in Hartebeespoort, North West.
This is the largest inland ultramarathon in South Africa offering a 50 km ultramarathon, 21 km half marathon and an 8 km fun run.
This year’s event saw a change due to roadworks on the R512 road and the 50 km athletes had to run over the difficult Saartjienek twice.
Dr Ralph Nhiwatiwa took the 60-70 age category position 2 in the 21 km half marathon after finishing the race in 02:19:21.
Nkhetheni Masupa took the 50-60 age category position 2 in the 50 km ultramarathon in 03:38:41.
His brother Ntshengedzeni Masupa took first in the same category in a time of 03:33:45. The brothers took the same positions in last year’s marathon. Arouchelle Nieuwenhuis took the overall female position 2 in the 50 km ultramarathon in 03:47:11.
“Arouchelle has been doing very good in different races lately and watch the space, this girl is going places,” says Nkhetheni.
The well-known long distance runners from Welkom, affectionately known as Team Vitality Twins, Nkhetheni and Abe Nkomo ascended the podium in the previous week’s 2025 Kijima Kosmos 3-in-1 in Secunda, Mpumalanga.
Both, together with a number of fellow Welkom runners took part in all three distances starting with a 42 km marathon at 06:00, then 21 km half marathon at 13:00 followed by a 10 km run at 17:00.
The running group from Welkom was proud to have four runners, Potso Khomo, Abe Nkomo, Piet Mpheteng and Nkhetheni Masupa in the overall top 20, from 2008 marathon finishers.
