Elijah Mabhunu Back With A Bang
15 May 2023
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FORMER national champion Elijah Mabhunu rolled back the years to win the second edition of the Post Insurance Mr. Pace Half Marathon in Harare.

Mabhunu overcame all odds to win the Mr. Pace 21kilometre race in a time on one hour four minutes.

Starting at National Sports Stadium’s B Arena, Mabhunu dominated a field that had many Olympic hopefuls.

After being missing on the roads for a long time, he reminded everyone of his qualities after dominating from start to finish.

The soft spoken athlete stuck with the pack for just about five kilometers before he started to break away from the group and would fizzle out until the end of the race.

Mabhunu was thrilled with his win after struggling with injuries for the past five years and still holds his Olympics dream.

“I am very excited. It as been a difficult time for me because of the injuries I jad sustained, but o fought and I am back now. I hope I can qualify for the Olympics because that is my dream,” he said.

Abel Chibanda was two minutes behind Mabhunu while Misheck Mabheka was a distant third.

Mr. Pace Marathon is the brainchild of former long distance runner, Colin Makaza and is now in its second edition.

“I am happy with the turn out and we are giving athletes a platform to prepare for later international races as they want to go on for world championships said event organiser, Collin Makaza.

The sponsors are happy with the continuous growth of the marathon that attracted over 30 professional athletes as well as veterans who once dominated the sport.

“Seeing all these professional athletes come together gives us encouragement that we are supporting a good cause and imagine how many youths we have taken out of the streets who could be doing drugs, but are here today so definitely we are excited and we will support such initiatives for a long time,” noted Ian Nyanyiwa, Operations Executive Global RSK.

Veteran Olivia Chitate won the women’s 21km race followed by Patience Murove and Rudo Mhonderwa.- ZBC News