Online Reporter
Innocent Kurira
BULAWAYO is set for a high-speed drama tomorrow as 30 of the country’s best middle-distance runners descend on the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair grounds for the Coca-Cola Four Minute Mile Challenge final, where glory and money are running neck and neck.
This is not just another race. It is pride, pain threshold and prize money rolled into one brutal test of speed and endurance.
A total of US$3 000 is on the table, turning the track into a battlefield where every second counts. The winner will pocket US$800, second place US$400, and third US$350, but the real gold lies in history, with an extra US$500 reward waiting for anyone who breaks the mythical four-minute barrier.
Bulawayo Athletics Board chairperson Watson Madanyika said the stakes have lifted the race to another level.
“The athletes are ready to take part in the race. They are geared up, and with the kind of sponsorship we have, we expect a highly competitive event,” he said.
All eyes will again fall on defending champion Wellington Varevi, the Black Rhinos runner chasing a fifth straight title. He has dominated the event in recent years, but the one target still mocking him is the sub-four-minute mile.
That elusive benchmark remains untouched in this competition, with Gray Mavhera’s legendary three minutes 58 seconds still standing as the gold standard.
Varevi enters the final with a qualifying time of 4:23.46, but the field around him is not here to admire records.
Leading the chase is Blessmore Chidziva, who arrives with the fastest qualifying time of 4:22.31, setting up a tense duel at the front.
Behind them is a tightly packed field including Mthabisi Moyo, Trust Hove, Martin Matsapa, Bornface Jeki and Kudzanai Chiwara, all capable of turning the race into a tactical explosion.
Last year, Varevi held off the field in 4:20.81, confirming his dominance, while Elijah Mabhunu and Munyaradzi Zizhou followed in his slipstream. But this year feels different, faster and far less predictable.
The entry standard of 4:31.00 has ensured only serious runners made it through, meaning there is no room for passengers once the gun goes off.
From Godknows Hungwe to Alex Ncube, from Freedom Banda to Wayne Kabondo, the line-up is stacked with athletes hungry for a breakthrough moment.
The Four-Minute Mile Challenge has grown into one of Zimbabwe’s most intense athletics spectacles, where reputations are built in seconds and shattered just as quickly.
Tomorrow, Bulawayo will not just watch a race. It will watch history either being chased, or once again just missed.
ZITF Four-Minute Mile Challenge finalists:
Blessmore Chidziva (4:22.31), Mthabisi Moyo (4:24.09), Trust Hove (4:25.00), Martin Matsapa (4:25.27), Bornface Jeki (4:26.25), Kudzanai Chiwara (4:28.62), Nigel Mirimi (4:29.60), Godknows Hungwe (4:30.22), Loyd Ngawaite (4:30.75), Alex Ncube (4:30.75), Hamfree Kunaka (4:31.00), Freedom Banda (4:26.18), Shyne Makota (4:24.33), Wayne Kabondo (4:23.45), Wellington Varevi (4:23.46), Peter (4:24.44), Tafadzwa Chidziva (4:25.24), Matthew Masirevhu (4:27.23), Tanaka Chikoore (4:28.49)
