Zimbabwe: Stephen Muzhingi’s Light Breakfast

Brian Nkiwane

29 May 2011

TWO-TIME Comrades marathon champion Stephen Muzhingi will have a cup of tea and two slices of bread with honey early this morning at his apartment in Durban with his four friends from Chitungwiza before today’s big race.

The grand strategy for winning the race is that Muzhingi will lead stretch the first batch of runners to the “maximum” with his other friends coming from behind. The Zimbabweans are employing this strategy against the Ethiopians who have entered the race and threaten to wrestle away the title from Muzhingi.

The Masvingo-born Muzhingi will be under pressure to defend his title for the third consecutive time when more than 19 000 athletes converge in Durban this morning for the 86th edition of the Comrades Marathon event.

This year’s event will be an up-run event, which will start from Durban and finishing in Pietermaritzburg. The race will start at 5:30am and will be screened live on SABC 2.

Speaking to Standarsport, Muzhingi said he was more than ready to defend his title.

“I know most of the people are not sure whether I am going to defend my title,” said Muzhingi.

“I have to be at my best because as you can see this year there are more athletes than any other event that has been held before and we have athletes from countries like Ethiopia, but I am not moved at all,” Muzhingi said.

Muzhingi’s tried and trusted lieutenant, Paul Mhizha also said that the two years that he has been taking part in the event have given him a chance to learn a lot of things about the event.

“I am looking forward to finish at a better position this time around. The fact that I have been with Muzhingi for the better part of my training time is a great advantage for me,” Mhizha said.

“This time around the Comrades Marathon race will be an up-run, which a number of us (Zimbabweans) favour ahead of the down-run. We have been preparing hard for the event.”

The Chitungwiza-based runners are set to be joined in the race by their close buddies and training mates Colleen Makaza, Moses Njobvu and Kingston Maringe.

There has been an increase in the number of foreign runners to this year’s race. The largest participating countries include; United Kingdom with 253 runners, the United States of America with 179 runners, Australia with 152 runners and Brazil with 115 runners.

The “up-run” has also attracted 4 882 novices whose endurance will be tested today.

For the first time in the history of the Comrades Marathon, an elite team of Ethiopian runners have entered and will pose a formidable threat to both local runners and defending champion, Muzhingi.

The top 10 finishers in both the men’s and women’s competitions in the 2010 Comrades Marathon will line up again this year.

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