MKHATSHWAS SHINE IN 10KM

MBABANE – It runs in the family.

Led by Major Mciniseli Mkhatshwa, the head of the family, athletics is central to their lives. This past weekend, Mkhatshwa’s two daughters Ntombizonke and Ntombizodwa took to the road for the Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force (UEDF) Wafa Wafa Half Marathon. The trio participated in the 10km event. At 65, Mciniseli excelled in the grand masters category and secured first place. “I always encourage participating in sports, especially athletics. I tell my daughters that they have to take care of their bodies at a tender age and not wait until they are older to start working on it, which by then would be too late,” Mkhatshwa said.  

He mentioned that running offered many health benefits, such as physical fitness, which protects against diseases. “We sometimes do roadwork together, but mostly they train alone as they are still more energetic and faster than me,” he added. The twins are aged 28. For Ntombizonke, it was her maiden race. She praised the family for convincing her to the challenge.
“It was my first-ever race. I anticipated it would be difficult, but I didn’t feel the strain that much. I’m actually excited that I was able to do this after being convinced by my family, and I had a week to prepare,” she said. She aimed to finish the race within an hour. However, she completed it in 1:17 hours minutes, ranking 28th out of 161 female runners. She is looking forward to more races and aims to participate in the 10km event again at the Voice of Church (VOC) Half Marathon. For the prestigious Imbube Marathon, she plans to take the 21km distance.

regular

Meanwhile, her sister is a regular runner. Ntombizodwa said it had always been their father who took the leading role. “Fitness is one of the things we take seriously as a family. We’re training just for fun and health reasons. Dad was like, ‘we have to take this challenge.’  Training together with my sister was most exciting and we laughed with each other as we trained,” she said. While there are monetary incentives in races, she said they were just a bonus, but her utmost goal was to achieve personal fitness goals.

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