Online Reporter
Lovemore Dube [email protected]
RENOWNED middle and long distance runners coach Benson Chauke believes in the present crop of marathon runners.
He believes they can scale better heights and beat the national record over the marathon which has stood for four years at 2 hours 06 minutes 48 seconds.
Do we have the athletes to break Isaac Mpofu’s national record?
“Yes. Are we able to improve on those times? Very possible. Who are the people? Those people with those good times can still better them because they have the pedigree to better their own performances,” this was Chauke’s response.
He said to achieve that, there was a need for athletes to be supported, with athletes getting resources to prepare.
“There is a lot of support needed for these people to prepare.”
He said Zimbabwe can follow other countries that are sending their top middle and long distance runners to East Africa to train there and then proceed to competitions.
“Surely our results will change, but that calls for money and proper planning,” said Chauke.
He noted that most of the athletes in Zimbabwe’s top 15 marathon runners were homegrown.
“If we cannot take them to East Africa, we continue doing our homegrown solutions, a solution of a 2 hour 06 minutes marathon by someone born and bred in Binga, Hwange, Bulawayo and Harare, and it was achievable. The 2 hours 08 minutes that you are seeing, again, it’s a Harare preparation,” said Chauke of Mpofu and Moses Tarakinyu who recently posted a 2 hours 08 minutes marathon.
He also mentioned Godwin Kataruka as another homegrown solution who has run a 2 hours 08 minutes marathon.
These times are good and make Zimbabwe athletes among the respected ones in international races.
Chauke said Zimbabwe athletes wishing to run Olympic and World Championships qualifying sub 2 hours 06 minutes face several obstacles.
“Do we have the capacity to send our athletes to the faster marathons in Europe, getting visas, getting air tickets, and more frequently, that is a challenge but that will definitely give us better results,” he said.
He said if Zimbabwean athletes do not compete after training in ideal conditions, they will continue to miss out on the big stages.
“Failure to do so, we may take time to really get there, but you should have seen the trajectory taken by Mpofu. From Durban, he went from 2 hours 10 minutes to sub 2 hours 07 minutes because he had gone where the altitude and conditions were conducive for him to run such fast times. While we are continuing to see now is an improvement of these times, we are seeing the second time, third time, all these are now being run in Europe. So for Tarakinyu, this is his first time in Europe,” said Chauke.
Chauke is confident the marathon runners can reach good heights in marathon events.
“It’s doable. We can achieve this feat even when we prepare from home. But of course, it’s not an easy thing, but it’s a huge milestone.”
Chauke is national team coach responsible for middle and long distance athletes.
He rose to prominence with his Kuwadzana athletes Jane Makombe, Faith Kamangira and Cuthbert Nyasango.
Zimbabwe’s top 15 marathon runners
1 Isaac Mpofu (2 hours 06 minutes 48 seconds) Valencia Marathon, Spain – 04/12/22
2 Moses Tarakinyu (2 hours 08 minutes 26 seconds) Berlin Marathon, Germany – 07/09/26
3 Godwin Katakura (2 hours 08 minutes 47 seconds) Hannover Marathon, Germany – 12/04/26
4 Tendai Zimuto (2 hours 09 30 seconds) Enschede Marathon, Netherlands – 21/04/24
5 Cuthbert Nyasango (2 hours 09 minutes 52 seconds) Prague Marathon, Czech Republic – 11/05/14
6 Tendai Chimusasa (2 hours 10 minutes 57 seconds) Hamburg Marathon, Germany – 19/04/98
7 Ngonidzashe Ncube (2 hours 11 minutes 46 seconds) Enschede Marathon, Netherlands – 24/04/22
8 Blessing Waison (2 hours 11 minutes 51 seconds) Durban Marathon, South Africa – 04/05/25
9 Munyaradzi Jari (2 hours 12 minutes 27 seconds) Cape Town Marathon, South Africa – 30/05/21
10 Brian Sheriff (2 hours 12 minutes 27 seconds) Tokyo Marathon, Japan – 12/02/96
11 Wirimayi Juwawo (2 hours 12 minutes 38 seconds) Danzhou Marathon, China – 18/12/10
12 Kasirai Sita (2 hours 12 minutes 42 seconds) Eindhoven Marathon, Netherlands – Netherlands
13 Michael Ngaaseke (2 hours 12 minutes 53 seconds) Berlin Marathon, Germany – 26/09/04
14 Mike Foromani (2 hours 13 minutes 17 seconds) Beijing Olympics, China – 24/08/08
15 Brighton Chipere (2 hours 13 minutes 18 seconds) Podgorica Marathon, Montenegro – 01/11/09
