Online Reporter
Ellina Mhlanga
Zimpapers Sports Hub
WITH less than two weeks to go before he lines up for the Berlin Marathon, Tendai Zimuto says he is ready for the race on September 27.
The ultimate goal for the Black Rhinos Athletics Club runner is qualifying for next year’s World Athletics Championships to be staged in Beijing, China.
The qualification system is a combination of entry standards and world rankings.
The qualifying time for men’s marathon is 2 hours 6 minutes.
“According to my preparation, analysing what we have done in preparation, I can see myself qualifying.
“I will do my best to qualify,” said Zimuto.
For the 2027 meet, the qualification system has been set with the objective of having approximately 40 percent of the athletes qualifying through entry standards and 60 percent qualifying through world rankings.
For Zimuto, clocking a time close to the 2 hours 6 minutes also puts him in a good position to make the cut through world rankings.
“If I miss the time, I would want to be close to the qualifying range.
“And I know through the world rankings I must qualify because my wish is to go for the World Championships again.
“Last time I went to the World Championships, and I just had to push myself to finish the race but this time I want to go and compete.
“My wish is to go for the World Championships and qualify for the Olympics as well,” said Zimuto.
Zimuto made his debut at the global meet last year in Tokyo after earning his spot through the world rankings.
He has been working with coach Benson Chauke in the last few months.
Zimuto had a couple of races as part of his assessment during the preparation period that began in June, including the Tanganda Half Marathon and Econet Victoria Falls Marathon.
“Our preparation started way back in June where we set some assessment races. We usually use the Tanganda as one of our measure.
He went to Tanganda, he ran, he came 6th. And immediately after that, back-to-back to that was Victoria Falls Marathon on the 5th of July where he won the race.
“The first two assessment races were done when we were doing a lot of mileage.
“And his legs were heavy, we hadn’t really tapered down to do the specifics of a race, specific workouts.
“But thereafter, we then focused more on the proper marathon preparation, the times spoke towards the desired marathon pace that we intend to try and achieve when he goes to Berlin.
“We have had change of venue here and there just to try and keep him motivated and excited. And I think that has gone well,” said Chauke.
Zimuto’s last major race was in April, the Enschede Marathon in Netherlands and he found the going tough dropping out after the 25km mark.
He had hoped to use the race to begin his build-up for the qualification.
Chauke believes, the 31-year-old is in a better place now.
“We have not had much of injuries. But you know, with mileage, there are bound to be some niggles here and there.
“But we hope this won’t affect his performance when he goes out there.
“And we are now tapering just before his departure,” said Chauke.
