Ellina Mhlanga
Zimpapers Sports Hub
FOR national long and middle-distance runners head coach Benson Chauke, the recent performances by Moses Tarakinyu and Tendai Zimuto at the BMW Berlin Marathon are an indication of progress.
Tarakinyu became the second Zimbabwean runner to run sub-2:10 this year.
He clocked 2 hours 8 minutes 26 seconds at the recently held BMW Berlin Marathon in Germany.
Godwin Katakura was the first when completing the ADAC Marathon Hannover in 2 hours 8 minutes 47 seconds in April. “This is a homegrown solution. So, with time and the resources, things are changing for Zimbabwe,” said Chauke.
“We are getting better slowly and slowly.”
Chauke believes such performances give the athletes a good chance of becoming part of the field at next year’s World Athletics Championships in Beijing. “As a country, I think, even if we don’t get people that will win, or get the actual qualifying time at 2:06, if we have more of our boys running closer to 2:06 not once but maybe twice or three times, then it gives them an opportunity to earn points so that they can now be considered to go and run the World Champs.
“Tarakinyu has a 2:08, very impressive. Godwin has a 2:08, very impressive.
“Now the current time, Tendai has a 2:10, which is fair.” He added: “Now, what will await is World Championships. Tarakinyu, Katakura, they must run again so that they can score points to be considered for World Champs qualification next year.
“So, we are on the right track. We have three people that are very close with the recent times.
“We are waiting for Isaac also to probably post his time, so that we have a group of, say, four, and hopefully we might, if we are lucky, be able to take a full contingent of men marathon athletes to Beijing next year.”
Mpofu took the lead a few years ago, when posting 2 hours 6 minutes 48 seconds at the Valencia Marathon. And he has represented the country at the World Championships and Olympic Games.
Zimuto in his first international race, when he competed at the Enschede Marathon in 2024, he ran a personal best of 2 hours 9 minutes 30 seconds.
He ran then clocked 2 hours 9 minutes 43 seconds at the TCS Amsterdam Marathon that same year.
Katakura and Tarakinyu have also joined in.
“The coaches for these guys are local. Alden Muhoni, Cuthbert Nyasango, myself. We don’t go to borrow ideas. We use our own ideas, in our own environment, our own terrain, with our little funding that we have, and surely we are getting there.
“But more importantly also, I would like to applaud NAAZ (National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe) for their support for these athletes.
“They believe in the potential that we have in the country, so they periodically will chip in to support either by assisting with tickets or assisting with a little bit of this here, a little bit of that there, to enable these boys to go out there and show the world what they are capable of. “
