Online Reporter
Ellina Mhlanga
Zimpapers Sports Hub
REIGNING champion Tendai Zimuto will not be defending his Econet Victoria Falls Marathon title this year with the seasoned runner instead, opting to compete in the 21km race.
Zimuto has cast his focus on the World Athletics Championships, scheduled for Tokyo, Japan in September, where he will run in the marathon.
As such he has shifted gear and toned down on the number of marathons he needs to run before representing Zimbabwe on the global stage.
Zimuto’s coach, Benson Chauke, revealed that his athlete is now using his energy sparingly.
Chauke said they would be using the Victoria Falls marathon to gauge Zimuto’s current performance level, given that they have about 70 days left before the World Championships.
The 2025 edition of the Econet Victoria Falls marathon gets underway in the iconic resort town tomorrow.
But with just two months before Zimuto heads out to Japan, Chauke said they cannot go for a marathon considering the task ahead.
Zimuto will be making his debut at the World Championships.
“We have just over 70 days before he runs the World Championships race, so there is no way we can go to the Victoria Falls Marathon with the aim of winning it or being at our peak now.
“So, what we are going do is to use the Victoria Falls Marathon, just as an assessment …We are going to do 21km.
“He will take part in the event just to assess where he is…Thereafter, we are done, we focus on our World Championships preparations,” said Chauke.
Chauke has been to a number World Championships in charge of local athletes and knows the significance of being in peak form and shape if one is to challenge for honours in the gruelling 42km race against the global long-distance stars.
Zimuto was part of the field at the Tanganda half marathon last week and placed sixth in 1 hour 5 minutes 23 seconds.
“There are so many things that you want to see in an athlete. You load an athlete with certain activities prior to a particular competition and then you throw them into a competition with people that have tapered for the particular competition,” added Chauke.
“Those will definitely be going all out to win it but he cannot just leave it, he also has to fight with the load in him, he has to really give it his all. And then we see how he will compare, how will fare in terms of is he able to keep up with these guys even though they have tapered for this particular one and we were loading him.
“So, all those things, the things that we were doing are part of our preparation deliverables.
“Then we wanted to see with these in his legs and the body, how can he compete with people that might have really focused on Tanganda to win it.
“So those were the little things that we looked at.
“Tanganda by virtue of its terrain, the uphills in Tanganda are a killer and the downhills are equally difficult.
“We also wanted to see how he would respond to the downhill run and how he would respond to the uphill run.
“Same thing, we are now going to the Vic Falls Marathon.
“It’s not going to be that hilly, which means that people would be running generally with more consistent pace and with the loading we were doing the past two to four weeks, we want to see how, again, he will fare.
“Thereafter we now know whether he has the strength, he has the mental stamina and see then how to put in place a proper preparation plan towards the World Championships,” said Chauke.
Zimuto together with Mpofu qualified for the men’s marathon at the World Championships.
While Mpofu has been there before, Zimuto will be making his maiden appearance in September.
“I am running to assess my body. We are just left with two months to the World Championships, so we are still loading.
“So far so good, no complains, no injury just tired from training,” said Zimuto.
Fortunate Chidzivo, also bracing for the World Championships, is expected to be part of the field in the women’s category.
Chidzivo, is however, running the marathon.
She joins defending champion, Ethel Pangiso, who will be out to retain her title.
“It’s my hope to defend my title, but you know with races, anything can happen.
“I have been training and I am okay, of course fitness levels differ but I am okay for the race.
“I ran Tanganda as part of my training but Victoria Falls Marathon is my main race,” said Pangiso.
