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Ellina Mhlanga
Senior Sports Reporter
AS marathon runner Blessing Waison readies for the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon in South Africa, his coach Alden Muhoni says they are targeting a personal best when he takes to the road.
The marathon is slated for October 20.
And for Waison, the aim is also to lay the foundation for him to pursue the World Athletics Championships qualification time.
“For the South African race, the preparations are going on very well. He recently won in Zambia, the ABSA marathon.
“We are hoping the training formulas will keep on working. He will keep on working because we are left with only two weeks before the Sanlam Marathon on the 20th of October.
“So, it’s almost two weeks left to properly train because he will need to taper, then recover and make sure he is in form,” said Muhoni.
Waison was part of the field at last year’s edition where he clocked 2 hours 12 minutes 49 seconds, which is his current personal best time. Going into the upcoming race, Muhoni said they are aiming for a new personal best.
They are also using it as a platform to assess his fitness as the ultimate goal is for him to go for another race to try and qualify for the World Championships to be held next year in Tokyo, Japan.
The qualifying time for a marathon in the men’s section is 2 hours 6 minutes 30 seconds.
“This year we are hoping to go and do 2:08:30. That’s the target I am working with. He entered the race as an elite and the race has got a lot of Kenyans and Ethiopians.
“But that’s good for us, it also motivates him and make sure he runs time. We are going for a win.
“We are just trying to go for his personal best at Sanlam and use that as a platform to prepare for the European races and the World Championships.
“If he runs 2:08 at Sanlam, it means if he goes to Europe, he can easily cut the 3 or 2 minutes (to run the qualifying time for the World Championships).
“So, we are using it to test his fitness and also to get a personal best . . . I know he is way better than last year.”
The Cadence Athletics Club coach said they are hoping to get a race in Europe for qualification to the World Championships.
“We are in discussion with some managers to find a race next year that we can participate in or in December because that’s enough time to recover and rest,” said Muhoni.
The qualification window for the marathon closes on May 4, 2025.
Muhoni said they are grateful to the Sports and Recreation Commission and National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe for facilitating access to training facilities such as the National Sports Stadium where they do their track sessions.
Online Reporter