A star is born in the States

annual Bi-Lo Myrtle Beach Marathon in South Carolina.
Ndhlovu, a product of Munya Maraire’s World Wide Scholarships Academy which is based in Harare, sent tongues wagging when he swept to victory in the men’s half-marathon which was run simultaneously with the main Bi-Lo Myrtle Beach Marathon on Saturday.
Not only did Ndhlovu win the half-marathon race but he also did it in style, winning it in a new record time of 1 hour 7 minutes and 57 seconds — brilliant stuff.
In fact, in a span of nine minutes on Saturday morning, two records fell during the running of the 15th annual Bi-Lo Myrtle Beach Marathon as 24-year-old Ndhlovu and 15-year-old Alana Hadley set new standards in the men’s and women’s half-marathon races respectively, according to reports from South Carolina.
Ndhlovu, who now runs track for American athletics club UNC-Pembroke, crossed the finish line with his arms in the air and his fingers pointing to the sky as he completed the 13.1-mile course in 1 hour 7 minutes and 57 seconds. That eclipsed the previous course record of 1:08:21 set in 2004 and matched in 2007.
Meanwhile, Hadley, a Charlotte resident, clocked in at 1:16:43 to surpass the previous women’s mark of 1:17:39 established in 2007.
“I think I’ve found where I belong,” Ndhlovu, who has primarily focused on 5km races in the past, told reporters after the race on Saturday. “I think I’m better at longer distances than shorter distances. I think I’ve found where I belong, and I’m going to concentrate on where I am right now with the longer distances . . . This is a stepping stone for me.”
He didn’t have much company over the second half of the race, he said, and was followed across the finish line a minute and a half later by Tom Clifford (28) of Wilmington in North Carolina. Clifford was the runner-up in a time of 1:09:26.
As for Ndhlovu, who arrived in the United States in the summer of 2009 for school, it was his first half-marathon since 2003 back in Zimbabwe. He had a break in his collegiate running schedule that accommodated the Myrtle Beach race perfectly.
“With the training that I was doing so far, I just thought I would try something longer and see how I would (fare),” he said. “So this was an attempt to see how it goes, and it went pretty well actually.”
To say the least. Hadley also made the most of her first experience at the Myrtle Beach event. She had also run half-marathons in Charlotte at Virginia Beach and Savannah over the last year but set a personal record on Saturday to go with her course record.
“I was just trying to stay on a pace that I had planned, and I noticed that (after) 12 miles, it was 1:10 so I knew I’d be able to get under 1:17, and I was really happy about that,” she said. Hadley was followed by Megan Deakins, 21, of Durham, North Carolina, who finished not far behind in 1:17:13. It was Hadley’s first victory in a half-marathon.
“It’s awesome,” she said. “I was just going to look for a good time, and I ended up getting my best and it’s really nice here — the weather turned out perfect, the course was nice and flat. It was wonderful.”