ZITHANDE SHINE IN SA

MBABANE – Zithande Athletics Club proved daring on the road during an international race, this past weekend.

The club’s athletes were in Piet Retief, South Africa, for the Assegaai Marathon, this past Saturday. Among the outstanding performers for the club was Maxwell Nzima, who was seventh overall in the full marathon with a time of 03:04:22 hours. Zithande Coach Nsizwa Thwala, who was among the club’s 20 athletes enduring the course, lauded the runners for their spirited display. “It was a successful outing, with our runners overcoming the very tricky route. Three of our boys were in the Top 10 of the 42 km, with everyone finishing the race. What encourages me the most is how our novices have performed. This is proof that we run the best training programme at Zithande Athletics Club," said Thwala. Thwala said they were now looking forward to the year’s challenges after officially opening their 2024 racing calendar.

Winning the race was South Africa’s Bonginkosi Mavuso with a time of 02:29:08 hours. The latter needs no introduction after winning races here in Eswatini that include the Highway Half Marathon in Mankayane. Meanwhile, the fastest liSwati during the 42.2km event was sixth-placed Henry Mawelela with a time of 02:56:24 hours. He represents Golden Foot Club. ‘‘This race will give us the practice that we need for the racing season. We have trained hard for it. We train harder than the challenge that we are preparing for. It is also a Comrades and Two Oceans 56km qualifier. Some of our runners will use it for comrades seeding,” Thwala had earlier said before the stop in the neighbouring country.

The Assegaai Marathon, on the other hand, is said to be a scenic event offering beautiful views and great Comrades preparation. The route follows rolling hills down towards the Assegaai River (for 42.2km athletes) on the road to Eswatini before turning back to Piet Retief/Mkhondo. Other events were the 21.1km and 10km long. All three distances started and ended at the Piet Retief Rugby Club and are out and back routes.

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