The Sunday Mail
Tariro Charandura recently in Mutare
RUDO MHONDERA looked at ease as she set a new Tanganda Half-Marathon record and fired warning shots in Mutare last weekend. The 21-year-old athlete stopped the clock on 1:12:00 to better the record set by Rutendo Nyahora last year by a massive seven minutes.
Patience Garauzivo of the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services came second in 1:12:000 with Mutare-based Bertha Chikanga some five minutes further back. Mhondera of Powerhouse Racing Club said it all came down to having the right frame of mind under very difficult conditions.
Temperatures plunged to 17 degrees Celsius on race day and most runners struggled to get into the groove. “I am a product of teamwork,” said Mhondera. “All credit goes to my teammates at Powerhouse; they put me in the right frame of mind and molded me into the champion that I am today.
“Racing under such conditions was never going to be easy but I had a race plan and stuck to it. It was never about what the next competitor is doing, it was all about me running my race.” In the men’s category, Olympian Wirimayi Zhuwawo’s 1:2:42 record, set in 2012, remained intact as Misheck Sithole crossed the finishing line in 1:05:32.
Sithole made his intention of winning clear as he broke from the rest of the pack right from the start and powered his way to victory. Milan Matende of Black Rhinos was a minute behind Sithole while Conscious Nyamutsita came third.
Sithole hopes that his victory will inspire other Mutare-based athletes to step up. “I am glad that I won it, it has been while since someone from Mutare won this race. This victory is for all the runners in Mutare. I want them to keep pushing and believing that their day will come,” he said.
“I trained under the conditions we raced in for over three months and that experience saw me breeze through the race. “Victory is always sweet but I will not be celebrating for long, very soon I will be going back to serious training.”
Melford Moyo maintained his dominance of the wheelchair race and vowed to defend his title again next year.
