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Zambian wins Victoria Falls Marathon
18 Jun 2017 at 18:19hrs | Views
Zambia's Matthews Mutanga is this year's winner of the Victoria Falls Marathon, overturning Zimbabwe's dominance in the majestic race which drew over 2700 participants.
The long distance runner, who came third during last year's edition of the marathon, ensured that Zambia claims the much coveted overall winner's medal for the first time, crossing the finishing line in 02:21:32.
The Zambian had not won a major international race but finished ahead of former Two Oceans winner, Zimbabwean Mike Fokoroni who settled for second place after clocking 02:22:16.
In the 42.2 km open marathon women's category, 3-time winner, Thabitha Tsatsa proved too good for the other athletes, crossing the finishing line first in 02:57:06.
In second place was Lizah Chore who clocked 03:01:02, while Samukeliso Moyo settled for the third place.
In the half marathon, Robson Chigara finished first, crossing the line in 01:06:02 ahead of Jari Munyaradzi.
In the half marathon women's category, Patience Garauziye clinched the gold medal after clocking 01:21:03.
The 42.2 km marathon began at 06:15 hrs in the morning and saw the athletes crossing into Zambia briefly before coming back and passing through the Zambezi National Park before finishing at Victoria Falls primary school.
The fun run, which drew the largest number of participants, got underway at 08:15 hrs. Offering the runners some of the spectacular views around Africa's adventure capital, the race is proving to be more popular with over 40 countries represented at this year's edition.
Victoria Falls Mayor, Sifiso Mpofu and a representative of the organisers, Brent Williamson hailed the level of participation and huge attention that the race continues to generate.
Winners in both the open men and women in the full marathon pocketed US$900 each, while the overall winner in the half marathon received US$500.
With participants from as far as the USA and China, the marathon gave a platform to both local and international athletes to pit themselves against the best.
The long distance runner, who came third during last year's edition of the marathon, ensured that Zambia claims the much coveted overall winner's medal for the first time, crossing the finishing line in 02:21:32.
The Zambian had not won a major international race but finished ahead of former Two Oceans winner, Zimbabwean Mike Fokoroni who settled for second place after clocking 02:22:16.
In the 42.2 km open marathon women's category, 3-time winner, Thabitha Tsatsa proved too good for the other athletes, crossing the finishing line first in 02:57:06.
In second place was Lizah Chore who clocked 03:01:02, while Samukeliso Moyo settled for the third place.
In the half marathon, Robson Chigara finished first, crossing the line in 01:06:02 ahead of Jari Munyaradzi.
The 42.2 km marathon began at 06:15 hrs in the morning and saw the athletes crossing into Zambia briefly before coming back and passing through the Zambezi National Park before finishing at Victoria Falls primary school.
The fun run, which drew the largest number of participants, got underway at 08:15 hrs. Offering the runners some of the spectacular views around Africa's adventure capital, the race is proving to be more popular with over 40 countries represented at this year's edition.
Victoria Falls Mayor, Sifiso Mpofu and a representative of the organisers, Brent Williamson hailed the level of participation and huge attention that the race continues to generate.
Winners in both the open men and women in the full marathon pocketed US$900 each, while the overall winner in the half marathon received US$500.
With participants from as far as the USA and China, the marathon gave a platform to both local and international athletes to pit themselves against the best.
Source - zbc
