Ellina Mhlanga Zimpapers Sports Hub
AS Godwin Katakura takes part at the TCS Amsterdam Marathon, his coach Alden Muhoni is confident the promising runner will rise above setbacks he faced during the preparation phase due to injuries.
Katakura is in Netherlands, and will be part of the field tomorrow competing against some of the world’s elite athletes.
In an interview just before his departure, Katakura made it clear he will be out to set a new personal best.
His PB is 2 hours 8 minutes 47 seconds.
Muhoni said they had to make some adjustments during the preparation phase to allow the 26-year-old to recover.
“Overall, I think his training went well. He picked some knocks along the way so there are certain things we had to trade off to allow recovery.
“That somehow affected polishing up towards the end of our training cycle.
“Yes, we had challenges. I changed his training regime a bit to strengthen areas where I was seeing weaknesses but unfortunately, he picked some injuries during the peak phase of his training.
“We had to slow down on both volume and intensity so that he recovers.
“I initially thought about looking for a race later this year, but he said he will just go for TCS Amsterdam Marathon and give it a try.
“I trust him when he says he wants to try, so I said go and enjoy,” said Muhoni.
Having worked with Katakura over the years, developing him into one of the rising distance runners in the country, Muhoni believes he can surpass his PB.
Katakura remains one of the hopefuls for next year’s World Athletics Championships, and with the qualification relying on a combination of entry standards and world rankings, Muhoni believes it is something achievable.
Katakura’s 2 hours 8 minutes 47 seconds, is the country’s third fastest time, and if he can continue on that trajectory tomorrow it puts him a good position towards qualification.
The qualifying mark for men’s marathon is 2 hours 6 minutes. But closer times to the qualifying time also helps him stand a chance to make it through the world rankings.
“One thing I enjoy working with him is that he knows no limits. When he gets into race mode, he can really go. If the injury doesn’t nag him, then he could go for a better time.
“His training times were ahead of the championships qualification times before the injury but we had to adjust and refocus our targets after the injury,” said Muhoni.
He said Katakura is much faster now than he was when he went for ADAC Hannover Marathon.
“If he posts a personal best, then he has higher chances for World Championships next year although I know he can do better when he is fit,” Muhoni said.
The Cadence Athletics Club coach added that they are not under pressure to have Katakura qualify for next year’s edition.
“My words are always simple. He is young and still developing. He should not have too much pressure to race for World Championships next year. He has all the time to develop and even compete with elite world class fields.
“So, I always advise him to take each step as it comes and focus on the long-term goal than just tomorrow’s success. If he has no nagging injury on the race day, we may enjoy good times.”
The men’s field include defending champion Geofry Toroitich Kipchumba, who won last year’s edition in a record time of 2 hours 3 minutes 30 seconds.
