SA's Mokoka defends Cape Town Marathon title, Van Dyk 2nd in wheelchair race

South Africa's Stephen Mokoka defended his title as he clinched his third Cape Town Marathon title on Sunday.

It was a massive turnout in Cape Town as 13 000 athletes competed in the 42.2km race, the first of its three-year Abbott World Marathon Majors (WMM) candidacy.

Mokoka crossed the finish line in emphatic style and in front of a boisterous home crowd, finishing in a time of 2:09:58.

Ethiopian duo Derseh Kindie Kassie and Dagnachew Adere Maru came second (2:11:26) and third respectively (2:11:52).

In the women's event, Ethiopia's Meseret Dinke Meleka won in 2:42:02, while Kenyans Tecla Kirongo (2:27:56) and Judith Cherono (2:30:32) rounded up the podium.

In the wheelchair division race, American Aaron Pike pipped South Africa's Ernst van Dyk.

It was the first time that an elite wheelchair racing division event took place in Africa.

Pike finished in a time of 1:40:15 and took home R50 000, while Van Dyk had to settle for second in his home race in 1:44:02.

Martin Velasco Soria of Mexico rounded out the podium with a third-place finish of 1:46:43.

Beautiful morning at the @CTMarathon In the wheelchair event, South Africa’s Ernst van Dyk clinched secomd, while American Aaron Pike won the marathon pic.twitter.com/r8NfB752CU