Ncube wins Peter Gradwell marathon

7 seconds but the former won the title as he was the first to cross the finish line.
Kudakwashe Kanduna came third in 2 hours 39 minutes 44 seconds.
Ncube, who was competing in a marathon for the second time, was satisfied with his performance.
“The race was okay and the course was so good. I had prepared well for this race. We got lost along the route and we had to come back but we had already lost some energy that’s why I ran 2 hours 38 minutes.
“I was satisfied with my performance because this is my second marathon. My first was Mr Pace last year and I ran 2 hours 20 minutes. Today’s time was okay because I got lost along the way.
“I just want to learn and increase my distance because in marathon there is more money. This is my profession I don’t do anything else besides athletics,” said Ncube.
For his efforts Ncube walked away with US$200 while Mutandiro and Kanduna got US$150 and US$100 respectively.
Mutandiro said he was using the race as part of his preparations for the upcoming events he will be competing in.
“We were just training. It was part of my preparations for the upcoming events. I wanted endurance and next month I will be focusing on speed.
“There wasn’t much competition in this race. It lacked some of the best athletes but at the end it was good for my preparations,” said Mutandiro.
Mutandiro has already qualified for the 2012 London Olympic Games with a B Standard.
“I have already qualified for the Olympics but I want to do better to improve the time I ran last year from 2 hours 17 minutes to 2 hours 13 minutes because right now I risk losing the place if someone runs a better time than mine,” added Mutandiro.
Sharon Chinokuya from Dzivarasekwa claimed the women’s title in 3 hours 12 minutes 47 seconds while 42-year-old Marianne Wright came second in 3 hours 29 minutes 21 seconds and Miriam Choga settled for third place.
Chinokuya said the competition was not very high but was impressed by her performance.
“I am happy because as usual everyone wants to win but I knew I was going to finish this race and win. My strategy was to maintain a good position in the leading group and that is what I did throughout the race,” said Chinokuya.
Wright said she was using the competition to assess her progress as she prepares for the Comrades Marathon in South Africa.
“I am very satisfied with my performance. I have entered the Comrades Marathon and it was very much dependent on how I was going to do in this race,” she said.
In the 21km men’s race, the title went to Moses Njodzi in 1hr 10:24 while Nkosiyazi Sibanda settled for second place in 1: 10:25. Jonathan Chinyoka was third.
In the women’s category, Alicen Manake clocked 1:22:7 to clinch the title.
Natalie Devilius and Spiwe Nyoni came second and third respectively.
The winners in the 21km race pocketed US$150 while the runner-up got US$100 and those in third place got US$50 for both men and women.
Meanwhile, the National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe cross-country championships held at Allan Lawry Golf Club in Redcliff on Saturday was marked by a low turnout.
The apathy affected the scoring system which requires the province to field at least six athletes in each category.
Just like last weekend’s Midlands Province’s championships held at the same venue which saw some districts staying away, Harare, Matabeleland North, Mashonalannd Central and East provinces chose not to compete in the inter-pros.
This left the host province Midlands to sweat it out against depleted provincial teams from Manicaland, Bulawayo, Masvingo, Matabeleland South and Mashonaland West.
NAAZ vice president, Cynthia Phiri, admitted the low turnout could have had an impact on the competition but was quick to say the named team was competitive enough to win medals at next month’s Southern Africa Region Cross-country Championships set for Mauritius on March 3.
“This was not the best turnout and obviously it had effects on the competition and what we have selected is what we had and should be good enough to win us medals in Mauritius.
“We will sit down to come up with the coach for the team to Mauritius,” said Phiri.
The top four in each category qualified for the Southern Africa Region championships.
Though she did not have records at hand, no national or personal records tumbled.
But Midlands’ Sithulisiwe Zhou won the Under-20 women 6km race in a time of 25 minutes 10.29 seconds while Matabeleland South’s Thandiwe Nyathi won the senior women’s 8km race, romping home in 33 minutes 44.00seconds.
Olympic-bound Nkosiyazi Sibanda won the senior men’s 12km race in 41 minutes, 33.81 seconds and Prince Ncube from Matabeleland South won the 8km race after clocking 29 minutes 14.11 seconds.
Team to the Southern Africa Region Cross-Country Championships
Women Under 20 6km – Sithulisiwe Zhou (Midlands), Ashley Musizingoza (Manicaland), Tafadzwa Pamela Katuruza (Manicaland) and Caroline Mhandu (Manicaland)
Reserve – Selusiwe Ndlovu (Matabeleland South).
Senior Women 8km – Thandiwe Nyathi (Matabeleland South) and Faithful Goremusandu (Midlands)
MEN Under 20 8km – Prince Ncube (Matabeleland South),Trust Paradza (Midlands), Gabriel Matandirotya (Manicaland) and Dexter Sibanda (Matabeleland South) Reserve-Tennyson Tshabangu (Matabeleland South)
Senior Men 12km – Nkosiyazi Sibanda (Matabeleland South) Elmore Sibanda (Midlands), George Majaji (Midlands) and Jacob Mugomeri (Mashonaland West) Reserve – Kelvin Gundani (Midlands).