'Whenever I go to a race, I want to win it' - Mudzinganyama targets glory at africanbank Soweto Marathon
2023 Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon champion Givemore Mudzinganyama is confident that he has prepared well enough to emerge victorious in the africanbank Soweto Marathon. The People's Race which is expected to attract a total field in excess of 20 000 over 10km 21km and 42km, is scheduled to take place on Sunday 3 November. One of the contenders for the men's marathon title is Mudzinganyama who is expected to challenge defending champion and fellow Entsika Athletic Club top runner Ntsindiso Mphakathi for top honours.
"At the start of the year, I had a hip injury, which delayed me to start preparing for Two Oceans. When I started to train, I was under lot of pressure as the time was not on my side. I was happy I managed to to do well in the race. Then I continued with the hard training as Comrades was around the corner. I would say the training has gone quite well at this stage. All the preparations so far indicates that I'm in quite good shape for any challenge on race day," explains the man, who obtained the third place finish in this year's Two Oceans in a good time of 3:11:11.
After claiming a second consecutive podium finish at Two Oceans, the 34-year-old produced a memorable performance at the Comrades Marathon where he ran 5:37:09 to take 10th place on debut. Mudzinganyama has managed to recover well from those heroics allowing him to race Soweto for the first time since 2016, when he didn't finish it. In preparation for a race many runners regard as brutal and challenging, Mudzinganyama says he had to change his program a bit from what he adopted at the start of the year.
"I had to adopt the different training program from the one I used in preparation for the Two Oceans and Comrades Marathon. Comrades drained me and took all my energy, I took long to recover. So to prepare for this race, I decided to reduce my volume but it was still hard training. I trust my training and I'm ready for race day," he said.
The man who trains at Zoo Lake under the guidance of legendary former New York Marathon champion Hendrick Ramaala with teammate Mphakathi aims to be the first man to breast the finish tape. He believes training with Mphakathi has motivated him further to push for a maiden Soweto title.
"If you hear any elite athlete going to the race beating around the bush saying he or she is not going to win the race then know that it's the biggest lie. Whenever I go to a race, I'm going there with the goal of winning it. If that is not achievable, then the second goal is to be in the top 10," he told #TheTopRunner.
"Also, I'm going to line up against athletes that I have mostly faced in the past. I have run against almost 90 percent of them. It's good because it calms you down a bit as you know what to expect from them. Plus I know the route, it is very fast in the first half. The biggest motivation is that I train with other athletes that will participate in the race including Mphakathi. So I'm expecting a very good race."
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