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Petros Kausiyo in Budapest, Hungary
TOP Zimbabwe long distance runner Isaac Mpofu ran a season best time when turning on a commendable show that earned him a 16th place in the men’s marathon at the World Athletics Championships around the Budapest Heroes Square yesterday.
Mpofu, the first of the Zimbabwean athletes to secure qualification for the 2024 Olympic Games in France, completed the marathon in 2 hours 11 minutes 33 seconds.
In a closely contested and exciting race Uganda’s Victor Kiplagat claimed gold after gallantly protecting his lead to win his country’s second ever world marathon title in 2:08:53.
Israeli Maru Teferi survived a fall after the 30km point to finish second in a season best of 2:09:12, as Ethiopia’s Leul Gebresilase took bronze in 2:09:19.
Mpofu’s teammate Ngonidzashe Ncube finished 37th when also clocking a season best 2:17:02 after shrugging off a recurrence of a toe injury which he said flared up in the last five kilometres.
On what was billed to be the hottest day this year in Budapest, the strong of athletes gave it their best in a riveting race.
So hot were the conditions that the championship organisers reduced the 10km mass run, which also began on the same course after the official men’s marathon race at Heroes’ Square, to 6km “to protect the health of the participants”.
The morning temperature was pegged at 25 degrees and a humidity of 65 percent at the finish, but Mpofu did well to stay with the leading pack for much of the course.
Kiplangat, the World Mountain Running champion in 2017, was also part of that group and caught up with the early breakaway leader just before halfway point after which he took control of the pace and just like all the finishers braved the heat.
Mpofu expressed satisfaction with his performance.
“All in all it went well, the water points were good, only the heat was the major problem, I tried my best to push and I was starting to get cramps and had to take more water,” Mpofu said.
“But I am happy and I think we did our best in this race. Compared to the last World Championships, the weather then was good and the results showed.
“Today the course was very good weather was the biggest factor but I will rest a bit and focus on the next race.
“I should have another marathon in November or December, I should get the confirmation of the exact place and dates in the next two weeks” Mpofu said.
Ncube was happy to have improved on his time but felt the Zimbabweans could have done better had they not been coming from winter back home.
“If we had been coming from summer or almost similar weather I think it would have helped us because today I really felt my body running out of water.
“This marathon was very tough, I tried to keep pace with the leading group but it was hard, and it really needed psychological strength for one to complete the race,” Ncube said.
He also spoke about the impact of his toe injury.
“I got injured while in camp and have been recovering. But I think due to the heat, it flared up because I really struggled towards the end, especially the last five kilometres.”.
Ncube said he had gained some invaluable experience from rubbing shoulders with some of the world’s best long distance runners, which he hopes to use to improve on his competitiveness.
Their coach Benson Chauke is also a happy man.
“I think they (Mpofu and Ncube) did very well,” Chauke said.
“They stuck to their race tactic. The idea is to stay where you are comfortable and for Isaac his aim was to stay with the leading pack for as long as he could hold on which is what he did.
“For Ngoni he stayed a little bit back but also did very well.
“Then he continued to fall and we were wondering what was happening. It was only after the race that we realized that he had an issue with his toe and that toe had not really healed so it gave him quite a huge challenge which affected his overall performance.
“For Isaac I think it quite a good performance considering that he is coming from an injury, did the Boston marathon which he was not fully prepared and ran a 2:14, had his preparation for this Championships interrupted when we were back home and it did not go as per plan but work had to be done here and it has been done and this is the result.
“I am positive… all my athletes are in high spirits, Fortunate was in high spirits at the end of her race yesterday (Saturday) and both Ngoni and Isaac are in high spirits.
“But I believe we are on the right trajectory, top 20 finish and top 37 finish
“The weather was harsh on everybody and it increased pressure on the water points for the athletes and weather preparation is not something that you can really plan on but we will continue to consult on how best we can acclimatise and we will all continue to learn on the way and it is meant for the better,” Chauke said.
Online Reporter