Muzhingi defends Comrades

Comrades Marathon tomorrow in South Africa.
Muzhingi knows that it will not be easy to defend the title this time around as he is the man to beat.
A lot of runners will try all the tricks in the book to frustrate the defending champion who has won the event in 2009 and 2010. Yesterday, Muzhingi was in a relaxed mood as he prepared for the race and his manager Cliff Chinasammy all but summed up the feeling in their camp.
“I am confident that he will win the race again. The preparations have been going on well and inspite of what people are saying, Muzhingi is fully prepared to win the race again,” said Chinasammy from his base in Durban yesterday. For the past two seasons, Muzhingi has won on the “down runs” but this time the 86.9km marathon will be going on the “up run”.
“It’s the up-run but Stephen is ready,” said Chinasammy.
Muzhingi has been in South Africa for the past month intensifying preparations for 86th edition of the Comrades Marathon, known as the Ultimate Human Race. For the first time in the history of the gruelling race, some athletes from Ethiopia, a nation with the pedigree of talented runners, will enter the event while Zimbabwe will have more than 30 runners.
There is also Ludwick Mamabolo, the South African athlete who finished behind Muzhingi last year, who is hopeful of better luck this time. Last year, the Comrades Marathon had 19 617 athletes finishing and the organisers have targeted 20 000 this year.
The United Kingdom is providing 300 runners while Brazil will field 115 athletes. Russia, Australia, Lesotho, Botswana, Kenya, Nigeria and the United States will also be represented at tomorrow’s event. Chinasammy said he has 10 runners from Zimbabwe who should form part of Muzhingi’s “team”.
“I have 10 other runners from Zimbabwe who should be running for the club alongside Muzhingi,” said Chinasammy.
Muzhingi used the Two Oceans Marathon last month to prepare for the more gruelling Comrades Marathon. In the 56km Two Oceans Marathon, Muzhingi finished a credible fifth in 3 hours 09 minutes 46 seconds. Last year, Muzhingi took part in the Two Oceans Marathon and finished fourth before silencing the vuvuzela-blowing South Africans as they prepared to host the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
Last year, running on the down run, Muzhingi clocked 5.29 hours and he was just six minutes slower than his winning time of 2009. In 2009, Muzhingi crossed the finish line in 5 hours 23 minutes and became the first African, outside South Africa, to win the race in its 84 years. Russia’s Leonid Shvetsov holds the record for the ultimate human race at 5 hours 20 minutes. The race is starting off at 5:30am in Durban and finishes in Pietermaritzburg and will be shown live on SABC 2. While Muzhingi is the kingpin for the Bluff Meats F1 team, Munyaradzi Jari, another Zimbabwean athlete, will be part of Muzhingi’s team of runners. Jari and others could be used to set the pace while Muzhingi closely monitors the race.
Another Zimbabwean, Prodigal Khumalo, finished 12th last year and could be aiming for a top 10 finish this year. The women’s race is a toss between the Russian twins Oleysa and Elena Nurgaklieva. The Russian twins have monopolised South Africa’s ultra-distance events, including the Two Oceans Marathon, for the past five years.
Elena won the celebrated 89,9km Comrades last year in a time of 6 hours 13 min 04sec, a mere second ahead of her sister. Capetonian Farwa Mentoor, who has consistently been finishing in the top 10 for the past five years, was the first South African woman home in 6:38:41.