I should have won – Siboniso Sikhakhane out for Two Oceans redemption

After finishing second last year, Siboniso Sikhakhane is confident he can claim his first Totalsports Two Oceans Ultra Marathon on Saturday, April 11. Siboniso Sikhakhane has not forgotten the moment he let theTotalsports Two Oceans Ultra Marathonslip through his fingers – and he has no intention of letting it happen again. Twelve months after finishing a heartbreaking second inone of South Africa’s most iconic races, the 35-year-old from Newcastle in KwaZulu-Natal has made it clear that he is coming back to win.

Sikhakhane clocked 3:11:18 in last year’s 56km ultra, crossing the line just 31 seconds behind eventual winner Joseph Khoarahlane Seutloali. But it was not simply defeat that lingered – it was the manner of it. “I still think I should have won last year,” Sikhakhane admitted.

“Everything in my race plan worked perfectly until the later stages. Then I made a huge mistake.” That mistake – stopping to collect a water bottle at the wrong point – proved decisive, handing Seutloali the gap he needed to surge clear. “I gave him the opportunity to open a gap, and it was very hard to recover from that,” Sikhakhane said.

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“But I’ve moved past it. Everything is planned by God.” If the memory still stings, it has also sharpened his focus. Under the guidance of 2004 New York Marathon winner Hendrick Ramaala, Sikhakhane has stuck to a tried-and-tested preparation formula.

Rather than overhaul his approach, he has refined it – returning to the FNB Kazungula Marathon, a key benchmark in his build-up. The decision paid off. Sikhakhane finished second in Botswana in a time of 2:19:17, slashing more than five minutes off last year’s performance at the same race.

In tough, hot conditions, it was a run that confirmed his fitness and his growing maturity as a competitor. Entsika Athletics Club star Siboniso Sikhakane (right) and Khoarahlane Seutloali are engaged in a titanic battle during last year’s Two Oceans Ultra, which Seutloali eventaully shaded by 31 seconds. “I didn’t see a reason to change what worked for me,” he explained.

“Kazungula gives me a clear indication of where I am and what I need to adjust. My goal was to run under 2:20, and I achieved that.”

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