Strong field for Mr Pace athletics champs

MORE than 100 athletes are expected to converge at the National Sports Stadium B Arena tomorrow for the Mr Pace Athletics Club Track and Field championships.

The competition will feature Under-10, Under-13, Under-15, Under-17, Under-20, seniors and veterans.

Events on offer include 50m, 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 5000m, 4x100m, 4x400m, mixed relay and medley relay, long jump, triple jump, high jump, javelin, discus and shot put.

Some of the athletes took part at the Harare Athletic Board track and field last Sunday, held at the same venue.

Wayne Kabondo, who came second in 1500m last Sunday is competing in 5000m. He also finished second at the HAB season opener cross country senior men 8km race early this month.

“Last week I competed at the HAB event, I did 1500m but this time I am running 5000m. “My aspiration is to just win the race. On the 11th of February I am going for 21km at the Old Mutual Harare Marathon. But on the 28th of January there is Nyaradzo Memorial Run but I am not yet sure if I will also go for that one,” said Kabondo.

Mr Pace Athletics Club chairperson and coach Collen Makaza said they are anticipating a strong field and an improvement in the quality of competition, since some of the athletes have already competed in two HAB competitions so far.

“We are expecting good competition. We have the likes of Artwell Simon from Marondera, Blessing Waison from Cadence Academy, Wayne Kabondo of Mr Pace, they have confirmed their participation. In the ladies we have the likes of Miriam Sibanda from Mr Pace.

“We are confident the performance is going to be better. This is the second track and field event, so I think everyone has had a chance to correct their mistakes after the first track and field competition (held by HAB).

“So athletes should now be performing especially those in specialised events. So I think performance will be high,” said Makaza. Some of the clubs that have confirmed their participation include Cadence Athletics Club, Speedpro, Amen Academy and Windview.

Speaking to Zimpapers Sports during the week, Cadence club coach Alden Muhoni said they are using the event to assess their athletes.

“We have athletes working on Olympic qualification times and some who have big races in the coming month, hence we will use the event to test our athletes on whether they can be competitive speed-wise under heavy load because we have been doing tough long runs and hills in the past months as part of our preparatory phase.

“It’s good to have such competitions where athletes are tested beyond limits. We thank the organisers, Mr Pace, for hosting such events at a crucial time,” said Muhoni.

Registration for the meet closes tomorrow morning just before the competition begins.