Story by Raynald Ngwarati
THE 2025 edition of the Musabvunda Half Marathon lived up to its billing with athletes dishing out an impressive show of tight battles in one of the fast-growing marathons in the country.
Tatenda Hove and Rudo Mhonderwa have been crowned the biggest winners of the third edition of the Musabvunda Half Marathon held at Blakiston Primary School in Harare this Sunday.
Moses Tarakinyu who won the previous edition, narrowly missed out on replicating his exploits, losing the crown to teammate, Tatenda Hove by just a second.
Hove clocked a time of an hour, four minutes and 11 seconds in the 21-kilometre race to outshine Tarakinyu who missed gold by a whisker with a time of an hour, four minutes and 12 seconds in one of the closest finishes.
“My times are improving, 1hr 04 minutes 11 seconds an improvement from the 1hour 05 minutes that I clocked at the Police General. So it is a minute that has been subtracted and in the next race we’re eyeing 1 hour 03 minutes, such that next time we go to major marathons we can manage to run in the stipulated time,” Hove said.
The battle was also intense in the women’s category as Rudo Mhonderwa edged Miriam Sibanda by 20 seconds, putting on a time of an hour 19 minutes and 40 seconds to claim the gold.
“These local events help us prepare for the main events like the Olympics, so we use them as trials while preparing for events like Tanganda, Vic Falls and other international events,” Mhonderwa said.
With a record number of athletes gracing the track, the organisers reiterated their commitment to nurturing athletes.
“It is all in health and fitness, and we are promoting and saying, once you do these things, you are thinking and your mind will be very open. For the young ones, the youth we are saying not to drug abuse because it destroys futures. So, that is the message we are also preaching so much about,” Musabvunda Chief Executive Officer, Kudzai Pasipanodya said.
Other winners include the ever-green Stella Jongwe who added another medal to her collection by winning the women’s 10-kilometre wheelchair race, while Richwood’s Mellen Ali won the 10-kilometre men’s wheelchair race inside 31 minutes and 25 seconds. Wayne Kabondo and Caroline Mhandu also emerged victorious in tight battles in the 10-km open race.
