Swartbooi confident record will stand for years

Veteran long distance runner Luketz Swartbooi is convinced his Rössing Marathon record will stand for many years to come. His record of two hours, 11 minutes and 23 seconds (2:11:23) has remained intact for some 22 years, with this year’s men’s winner of the coastal event Mynhardt Kauanivi, clocking 2:25:14. Speaking to Nampa after the 23rd edition of the marathon on Saturday, Swartbooi said there really is no secret to his winning time and running style. “It’s only training. The approach of an athlete to do better on the road is the only way anyone can break or better my record,” he said. Swartbooi, 48, also ran in the 42 km race on Saturday, but did not finish due to a three-year leg injury. Without providing much detail about his injury, the veteran said he watched the runners closely and noticed that they ran too slowly. “When they got to the turning point with a time of one hour 14 minutes, there was no way they could break or equal my record,” he said. Swartbooi won the silver medal in the marathon race at the 1993 World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany and finished 48th at the 2000 Olympics. He remains one of the country’s most outstanding athletes to have graced the international scene. He set his personal best in Boston, America in 1994 in 2:09:08, finishing third. While the route on the C34 toward Henties Bay and back to the sports stadium in Vineta, Swakopmund is generally flat, the wind blowing from the ocean made it difficult for the runners, perhaps providing an explanation as to why the times have been so slow in recent years. Since the marathon’s inception 23 years ago, only two athletes have managed to win it more than once. Salomo David won it four times and Erich Goeieman three times.