Online Reporter
Ellina Mhlanga-Zimpapers Sports Hub
AS athletes settle in and some step up preparations for international races, head coach long and middle-distance Benson Chauke says local events present a good platform for them to gauge themselves.
For the National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe, the performances from these races give them a chance to identify the next generation of distance runners that can be nurtured to be at a level where they can run times for the World Championships and Olympic Games.
On Sunday he attended the CBZ Marathon and observed some of the athletes in action.
The race was won by Godwin Katakura in 2 hours 16 minutes 53 seconds.
“It’s too early in the season for us to be able to really give a definitive trajectory of where we are going and where we are coming from.
“Most athletes are coming from pre-season, they are getting into competition, but the times we are seeing, you compare CBZ and you say, okay, it’s 2:16 this year, what was it in the past years, but it’s within the range of 2:16, 2:17, 2:18 thereabout.
“So, which means it’s competitive considering the time where we are with most of the top athletes.
“Isaac (Mpofu) having run a 2:18 at the Old Mutual, same altitude, of course different routes, but it means we are almost there and, after this, going to win Kazungula, still within his from-off preparation period.
“No one is really getting to the peak. We will see these guys peak maybe towards the end of the first quarter of the year, maybe end of April and some in May, because I am aware that these guys are preparing for such races.
“So, whatever we are seeing here is their baseline checking of what they have been doing in pre-season, where they are now and how they will do.” Fresh from the Old Mutual Harare Marathon, Mpofu won the FNB Kazungula Bridge Marathon in 2 hours 14 minutes 18 seconds over the weekend.
Early in the year, Chauke said they are tracking some of the athletes doing well, and among those athletes are Katakura and Blessing Waison.
Waison posted a time of 2 hours 17 minutes 54 seconds to finish second at the CBZ Marathon.
The seasoned coach is hopeful by the end of the first quarter, most of the athletes would be at their peak for the season, which will give a clear picture on most of the athletes.
“In terms of time, to give a prediction would be tricky. “But if history would repeat itself with the people that ran this year, then we would assume what happened to Tendai (Zimuto) in one year, where he ran a 2:18 here and went on to run a 2:09 in the Netherlands, a month or two after, we would wish it would be the case with Godwin running a 2:16 here.
“If he manages his remaining weeks before his major next race, which would be in the low altitude, then we can only hope that the times could actually improve from his best time of 2:11, probably to have an improved time.
“He has age to his advantage. He has the speed. But you know a marathon is a lot of things that need to be put together for him to get a good result and a good time.
“But the indications that we have from a distance, from the terraces, as a national coach, is probably we are seeing a progression in the right direction,” said Chauke.
With the next World Championships in 2027, NAAZ are already looking at potential athletes who can meet the global meet’s entry standards.
