Can anyone beat the wind? Athletes gear up to break 28-year Four-Minute Mile record

IT’S been 28 years since Gray Mavhera made history by running a mile in under four minutes at the ZITF Grounds in Bulawayo.

Since then, the best athletes in Zimbabwe have been trying to break that record, but to no avail.

This year, however, hundreds of people will gather at the ZITF arena to see if anyone can run faster than the wind and beat Mavhera’s time of three minutes and 58 seconds.

The four-minute mile competition is an annual men’s event that requires a pre-requisite time of four minutes and 31 seconds to qualify for the finals.

The challenge is to complete a mile run of 1 609 metres in four minutes or less.

The event used to take place during horse racing competitions at the ZITF Grounds before Coca-Cola came on board to sponsor the competition in 2004.

Many athletes have attempted to break Mavhera’s record, but none have succeeded.

Themba Mhlophe, who was part of the field when Mavhera broke the record, believes that the key to breaking the record is to have specialist athletes for the challenge.

“What this event needs is someone who specialises in this particular race only, then maybe we can have the record broken,” said Mhlophe.

He also noted that the track used for the finals is not a normal track, making the event challenging both mentally and physically.

Veteran coach and administrator Manuel Mpofu echoed Mhlophe’s sentiments, saying that athletes need to focus more on times than just winning an event.

“The reason why the record has remained intact is that athletes are satisfied with being in front of others, and breaking the record is not their top priority,” said Mpofu.

Bulawayo Athletics Board (Bab) chairperson Watson Madenyika believes that athletes these days have the potential to break the record if they concentrate on speed work during training.

“They should not run for positions but to beat the times,” said Madenyika.

“I would like to thank the Coca-Cola Company for their passion for supporting sport, particularly athletics.”

So far, 12 athletes have qualified for this year’s final, including Munyaradzi Zizhou and Mthokozisi Mhlanga, both from Blanket Mine, who were the first to qualify.

Other qualifiers include Nyasha Mutsetse, Levison Mapfuwa, Nomore Wiriki, Trust Hove, Godwin Katakura, Munashe Mundure, Bornface Jeki, and last year’s winner, Wellington Varevi.

The race is sponsored by Coca-Cola and its bottling partners in Zimbabwe, Delta Beverages. As the event draws closer, excitement and anticipation are building, and everyone is wondering if this will be the year that someone finally breaks Mavhera’s record. — @innocentskizoe.