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Ellina Mhlanga Sports Reporter

FOLLOWING his graduation from half marathons to the challenging 42km race, Jonathan Chinyoka believes he has what it takes to scale great heights when he participates in the inaugural PPC Msasa marathon tomorrow. The 42km race commences at PPC Msasa plant and ends at Old Hararians Sports Club.

“This will be my second marathon. My target is to win the race and if I fail, at least finishing second would be good. I am using this race to test my fitness, to see where I am. If I do well then I will look for qualifying events for next year’s World Championships. It’s always good to assess yourself before going outside the country to compete.

“I also think the course is favourable although I am not sure about the weather conditions on Sunday. My first marathon was last December in South Africa and I came sixth. So after that race I realised that I have the potential and it boosted my confidence,” said Chinyoka.

The winners for both men and women will get $1 000. Besides the 42km marathon, there is also a 21km with the top athletes getting $500 while winners in the wheelchair category walks away with $400.

There is also a 5km fun run on the programme. Harare Athletics Board secretary-general, Silas Muringani is hopeful most of long distance runners will take part tomorrow.

“We expect all our marathon runners to take part since this is the only marathon on our calendar for this year. With some of them eyeing the World Championships, they might actually seize this as an opportunity to prepare for the championships.

“Obviously when athletes come to participate, they do not come only come to run for the money. But some come to prepare, to run a certain distance while others just want to finish the race to see where they are.

“The objective is not necessarily the purse per se but the most important is to come and participate and see where they are. Assess themselves and go back to the drawing board.

“The course, is a very good course although we might experience some uphill run but most of the athletes are familiar with this course,” said Muringani. The sponsors have indicated that the proceeds from the event will be donated to Danhiko Project as part of their corporate social responsibility.

“This event will serve as a milestone event for the commissioning of the new PPC Msasa Plant and as an introduction of the physical presence of PPC into the Harare market,” read a statement by the sponsors.

Participants are paying $10 for the full and half marathon while for the 5km fun run it’s $5.