Muzhingi wins 2009 Comrades Marathon

Submitted by editor on 25 May 2009 - 9:58pm

Stephen Muzhingi from Zimbabwe won the 2009 Comrades Marathon in time of 5:23:27.

Zimbabwean Stephen Muzhingi has won the 2009 Comrades Marathon in time of 5:23:27.

Defending champion and record holder, Leonid Shvetsov of Russia was second in 5:33:10 and third place went to South African Charles Tjiane in 5:34:21.  

Stephen, who was awarded 220 000 South African Rand for his efforts said he would be investing some of his winnings in advancing sports in Zimbabwe.

The 89.17km down run from Pietermaritzburg to Durban kicked off at 5.30 am on Sunday morning with almost 13 000 runners having entered.

The 33-year-old had a bad start to the race but managed to stay among the top ten men participants throughout the race. As he entered the last stretch towards the finish line at Durban's Sahara Stadium the crowd began singing and shouting encouraging words.

Russian sweep

Olesya Nurgalieva led a Russia sweep of the women's race after leading four other compatriot to win the women's Comrades Marathon in 6:12.12.

Her twin sister, Elena Nurgalieva came second in 6:13.14 followed by Tatyana Zhirkova in 6:15:03 and Marina Myshlyanova in 6:30.42.

Meanwhile, the organisers, CMA, in a statement also announced that entry numbers for the 2010 and 85th anniversary of the Comrades Marathon will be cut off at 20,000 runners, and no extensions will be entered into, thus making the 2010 run a special event as the CMA has never had a cut off number in the past.

"We are confident that this number will be achieved very quickly as in 2000 we received 24,000 entries.

"Therefore we urge all runners and potential runners that wish to run in 2010 to take careful note of the entry process and the cut off dates. We therefore request that you enter early to avoid disappointment."

TOP 10 MEN & WOMEN RESULTS  

Pos Name RaceNo Country Gender Time
1 Stephen Muzhingi 55925 Zimbabwe             Male  05:23:27
2 Leonid Shvetsov 49670 Russia Male  05:33:10
3 Charles Tjiane 56834 SouthAfrica         Male  05:34:21
4 Fusi Nhlapo 14084 SouthAfrica         Male  05:36:17
5 Lucas Nonyana 52634 SouthAfrica         Male  05:39:29
6 Mncedisi Mkhize 27026 SouthAfrica         Male  05:41:14
7 Bongmusa Mthembu 31020 SouthAfrica         Male  05:41:52
8 Peter Molapo 32757 SouthAfrica         Male  05:42:25
9 BethuelNetshifhefhe 28689 SouthAfrica         Male  05:43:35
10 Harmans Mokgadi 47411 SouthAfrica         Male  05:44:49
           
Pos Name RaceNo Country Gender Time
1 Olesya Nurgalieva 19988 Russia Female  06:12:12
2 Elena Nurgalieva 19987 Russia Female  06:13:14
3 Tatyana Zhirkova 19986 Russia Female  06:15:03
4 Marina Myshlyanova 56699 Russia Female  06:30:42
5 Farwa Mentoor 25609 SouthAfrica         Female  06:45:33
6 Lesley Train 47434 SouthAfrica         Female  07:01:07
7 Marina Bychkova 39390 Russia Female  07:03:24
8 Lindsay Van Aswegen 11096 SouthAfrica         Female  07:08:55
9 Belinda Waghorn 39498 SouthAfrica         Female  07:09:36
10 Kashmira Parbhoo 20171 SouthAfrica         Female  07:16:13