Jari wins Old Mutual marathon

Ellina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
HARARE-BASED athlete Munyaradzi Jari is this year’s winner of the Old Mutual Rodger Brackley marathon after he swept to victory in a strong field at Old Georgians Sports Club yesterday. Jari stopped the clock in 2 hours 22 minutes 3 seconds to scoop the title ahead of Kelvin Pangiso, who came second in 2 hours 22 minutes 21 seconds. Jonathan Chinyoka was third with a time of 2 hours 23 minutes 23 seconds.

Jari said he came into the race aiming to win despite a challenging course.
“First I can say the race was not bad but the thing is the course was a little bit challenging. There were too many up hills and down hills but my aim was to win the race and I came first.

“My performance this year is a little bit higher than last year and I hope it will remain the same for the rest of the year. My aim is to represent Zimbabwe at the African Championships this year and the World Championships next year but the bigger picture is to go to the Olympics in 2016,” said Jari.

In the women’s section the title went to Olivia Chitate of the Zimbabwe Republic Police, who crossed the finish line in 2,hours 55 minutes followed by veteran long-distance runner Tabitha Tsatsa in 2 hours 56 minutes 10 seconds. Chiedza Chokore was third in 3 hours 4 minutes 48 seconds. Chitate, who was making her debut appearance in the 42km race, was excited after clinching the title ahead of veteran runner Tsatsa.

“It was my first time to race in a marathon. I wasn’t expecting to win, there were so many top athletes like Tsatsa and the Chokore sisters.
“After this race I realised that it is possible to run 42km, you don’t need much speed but endurance. I am really excited to win my first marathon,” said Chitate.

Chitate, however, said there is need to develop junior athletes to bridge the gap between them and the current crop of seniors.
“As an athlete I would say let’s have more local races. If there were races here we wouldn’t be going to South Africa to compete.

“We have very few sponsors and most of the time the races are just 42km and 21km which do not help in developing the juniors. Like today it is only the 42km race that has prizes.

“We need sponsors to sponsor those 5km and 10km races so that it motivates the juniors because you can see that most athletes competing are the same ones that always compete.

“We do not have any new athletes coming in,” said Chitate.