Elroy Gelant shatters 31-year-old South African marathon record
Long-distance runner Elroy Gelant obliterated one of the longest standing records in the South African books on Sunday, taking fourth place at the Hamburg Marathon in Germany.
Gelant, a former national record holder over the 5 000m distance on the track, crossed the finish line in 2:05:36 to slice 57 seconds off the national 42km mark of 2:06:33 which was set by Gert Thys in Tokyo in 1999.
The 38-year-old athlete, who finished 11th in the marathon race at last year's Olympic Games in Paris, ripped more than three minutes off his personal best of 2:08:56 set in Seville last year.
In the process, he achieved the automatic qualifying standard of 2:06:30 for the World Athletics Championships to be held in Tokyo in September.
Kenyan athlete Amos Kipruto won the race in Hamburg in 2:03:46.
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