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Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
THE long wait is over! More than 1 000 long distance athletes — including the highly rated Kenyans, Mozambicans and some from Botswana — are expected to converge in Mutare for the 2023 edition of one of the country’s prestigious races — the Tanganda Tea half marathon — at Mutare Sports Club on Sunday.
Preparations for this year’s edition of the Tanganda Tea half marathon went on well with organisers of the event keen to maintain the high standards witnessed in the 2022 edition of the annual long distance running contest.
Tanganda Tea Company operations manager, Farai Garayi said: “We opened registration on May 15, 2023. The race has been oversubscribed and we had to close on June 15, 2023, a month after opening. We have had foreign athletes from Botswana, Mozambique and Kenya registering.
“As has been the case with our previous marathons, the objective is to give back to the community that supports our brands by awarding prizes through promoting healthy lifestyles.”
Manicaland Athletics Board chairperson, Joshua ‘Zesa’ Matume said all is set for the event.
“We did our thorough preparations for The 2023 Tanganda Half Marathon event where we are expecting over 1000 athletes for this year’s edition.
“The competition has always been a major highlight on the domestic long distance running competitions on the National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe (NAAZ) calendar.
“Like we have noted before, we have invited all clubs, including primary schools, secondary schools and tertiary institutions since we are going to have races for all age groups,” said Matume.
In aiming for more than 1 000 athletes to participate, the organisers of the event are keen to maintain the standards from last year when more than 1 000 middle and long distance runners converged for the prestigious event.
In its previous editions, prior to last year’s edition, the Tanganda Tea Half Marathon used to attract at most 800 athletes.
More than 300 athletes competed in the men’s and women’s main events last year.
Spiced with an exciting public Zumba aerobics session on the cricket pitch, in its 2022 edition, people from different walks of life braved the chilly weather to stretch their muscles in this annual event which is bankrolled by the diversified agribusiness concern — Tanganda Tea Company.
Moses Tarakinyu cemented his dominance as the national Half marathon champion after clocking one hour, one minute and 22 seconds to win the race.
Apparently, Tarakinyu is the county’s representative in the World Half Marathon Championship to be held in China later this year.
Seasoned middle and long distance runner, Munyaradzi Jari came second after finishing the race in one hour, one minute and 44 seconds.
Defending Tanganda Half Marathon champion, Misheck Sithole, who won the previous edition of the race, settled for third position after completing the race in one hour, two minutes and 25 seconds
Elijah Mabhunu was fourth while Kelvin Pangiso settled for fifth position.
On the other hand, veteran runner Olivia Chitate was the winner in the 21km ladies main event after finishing the race in one hour, 16 minutes and eight seconds ahead of Bertha Sitariko who clocked one hour, 16 minutes and 43 seconds.
Constance Nyasango came third.
In the wheelchair women’s 21km category, Stella Jongwe romped home first ahead of second placed Thandiwe Ndlovu and Margaret Bangajena who came third.
The wheelchair men’s 21km race had Samson Mutoyiwa coming first ahead of Elford Moyo.
Munyaradzi Katiyo came third.
In the 10km men’s race, Wellington Varevi came first while in the ladies’ category of the same event, Faith Sanyika came first.
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