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Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter

MOSES Tarakinyu and Olivia Chitate were crowned men’s and women’s champions of the Liquor Hub 10km Fun run held in the city yesterday.

More than 200 athletes took part in the race that started and finished at the Liquor Hub wholesale centre in the CBD.

Chitate and Tarakinyu walked away with  R5 000 each.

Tarakinyu of Black Rhinos clocked 29 minutes 14 seconds, closely followed by Elijah Mabhunu who clocked 29 minutes 26 seconds. Misheck Sithole was third in a time of 29 minutes 44 seconds.

“I have been preparing for this race for some time now and l am happy to have won. This is the last event of the year, so it was important for me to finish the year in style and l managed to achieve that. Last year l was second in this race and l have managed to win it this time around,” said Tarakinyu.

Chitate from ZRP won the women’s race in 35 minutes 29 seconds, Mirriam Sibanda was second after clocking 35 minutes 29 seconds. The bronze medal went to Neriah Muganzo who crossed the finish line in 36 minutes 24 seconds.

“I’m extremely delighted, l did not expect to win this race but somehow l managed to come out tops. I hope to build on this performance and improve on my time next year,” said Chitate.

Bulawayo Athletics Board (Bab) chairman, Manuel Mpofu, expressed gratitude to Liquor Hub proprietor Raj Modi, who is also the Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce and MP for Bulawayo South, for sponsoring the race.

“We are thankful to Raj Modi for his continued sponsorship of the race. This was our final event of the year and we hope the sponsorship will continue for years to come,” said Mpofu.

Races run under the Bab banner include the PPC Matopos 33-Miler and the Coca-Cola Four-Minute Mile, the Nkulumane half-marathon, POSB, NRZ Half-Marathon and Hope Fountain 30 km Road Race. — @innocentskizoe