The first leg of the Yellow Pages Athletics Summer Series was marred by a spoiling South Easter wind but overall athletes warmed to the challenge as they made the most of the outing at Coetzenberg, Stellenbosch, on Friday.

The fierce ’Cape Doctor’ prevailed all evening and the one mile feature race, which held out the prospect of a sub-four minute time, nevertheless provided a fitting finish to the evening as three athletes ran neck-and-neck over the last 45 metres to the finishing line.

Johannesburg-born Setone Tshamano, running in the colours of Nedbank, made it home by a whisker from Samson Ngoepe of Polokwane, and he was followed by Folavia Sehole of Krugersdorp. Tshamano’s winning time was 4;13.58.

When the Summer Series moves on to Oudtshoorn on Monday, these athletes will make another sub-four minute attempt but they will need to come up with far greater improvement if they are to be considered a serious challenge for the R5000 prize money at stake for the ’dream mile’ at the next three meetings.

National 400m hurdles champion Cornel Fredericks had it pretty much his own way in the 300m hurdles. The Matie left the field for dead by the time he entered the finishing straight and raced home in 35.93 seconds.

Later on, Fredericks tried his hand at the 300m but he finished in second place as the North West sprinter Ofentse Mogawane showed his prowess. The pair were separated by 0.25 seconds at the finish.

The Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) sprint pair, Leigh Julius amd Cindy Stewart, both hail from ’The ’Windy City’ and seemed to be at ease in the blustery conditions while participating in the sprint events. In the 150m race, Julius won in 16.34 seconds, while Stewart clocked 18.9.

Earlier in the evening, both were triumphant in the 60m dash.

There were several EAD (athletes with disability) events on the programme and the four-time Paralympic champion, amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius, was the star attraction. Pistorius, running well within himself, had to push hard at the end to claim the honours in the 150m race.

He was warmly applauded for his efforts in the 300m (EAD) race as timed his winning burst to perfection from 90 metres out.