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Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
BULAWAYO-BASED female athlete, Fatima Hassin, heads to South Africa this afternoon for the 2019 edition of the Comrades Marathon to be held on Sunday.
The 52-year-old is leaving for the neighbouring country after competing in the Old Mutual Nkulumane Half Marathon this morning. Hassin is taking part in the Comrades Marathon for the second time after making her debut in one of the most challenging races in the world last year. This year’s Comrades Marathon is the up run from Durban to Pietermaritzburg with the total distance being 87 kilometres.
It is a massive achievement for Hassin who only started competing in road races two years ago when she took part in 21km at the Econet Victoria Falls Marathon in 2017. She recalls how it started off as banter between her and her sister that motivated her to run in the Comrades Marathon one day, something she eventually accomplished last year.
“I started serious running after I ran in the Econet Victoria Falls Half Marathon in 2017. That was my first time ever. After that race I just fell in love with running. I had a joke with my sister Nafisa that one day we would run Comrades and after Vic falls I made up my mind to do the next Comrades,’’ Hassin said.
A member of the Fitness First Club, Hassin encountered challenges in her preparation as she suffered an injury in December last year which ruled her out of training for six weeks. While it bothered her that others were preparing and she was not, the mother of two spent a lot of time in the gym and did swimming so as to stay fit.
“My training this year has been a bit difficult as in December I sustained an injury which put me out for six weeks, the whole of January and part of February and Comrades training had started so it depressed me that others were training. But I spent a lot of time in the gym and swimming to keep up fitness and strength.
She feels blessed to have training partners like Stanley Sibanda who also competed in the Comrades last year.
“I was lucky to have some good training partners mainly Stanley Sibanda. We did some nice long runs where we ran from Mbalabala to town and we did the Easter 100km where we ran 100km in three days and the last day we finished the last 21kms at that NSSA Marathon. That was really nice,’’ she said.
At this year’s PPC Matopos 33 Miler held in April, Hassin did well as she finished 10th overall in the senior women and was the first Masters female to cross the finishing line. During the same month, she was again the first Masters woman to finish the Half Marathon at the NSSA Run.
Hassin draws her inspiration from other woman runners, with her biggest encouragement coming from the likes of Ann Ashworth, Gerd Steyn and Camille Heron. She is mindful of the fact that Comrades will be tough because it is a challenging race. Hassin’s hope is to complete the Comrades in a better time than she did last year.
For her, taking part in one of the toughest road races in the world can serve as an inspiration to her two children, three grand kids as well as other Zimbabwean women to take part in the Comrades Marathon.
@Mdawini_29
Online Reporter