Stephen Muzhingi, Fulfilled his dream in New York - now he aims to win the New York Marathon

2011 saw Stephen having to forego a trip to Switzerland in September as a result of his mother's serious illness. Sadly she passed away a few weeks ago, leaving behind a devastated Stephen. Stephen was invited to run the New York Marathon on 06 November 2011, a lifelong dream of his - and intends to do so in honor and memory of his mother. Says Stephen "My family sacrificed a lot for me to get to where I am now, so it is sad that she won't be able to see me run my first race outside of Africa. But I will give my best for her."

It will be Stephen's first visit outside of the continent of Africa. He received the news of the invitation on 21 June 2011, after his manager, Craig Fry, had been negotiating with NYRR (New York Road Runners) since January. Stephen says that he has never had the speed to qualify for the coveted elite athlete invitation (to New York marathon) but after winning his 3rd consecutive Comrades Marathon this year confirms that he has a "...sub-2.20 marathon time but have never really raced a marathon properly, so this will be a true test for me. My aim is to run a 2.10 or faster, which I know I can do and all I can say is thank you to NYRR for the invitation and to Craig for making this happen for me."

Will Stephen complete the marathon in the time he predicts? I'm thinking the whole of Africa will be rooting for him.

Connect with Stephen on Twitter and Facebook. A humble, but refreshingly ambitious man, Stephen has the most wonderful sense of humor, and simply relishes interacting with his friends, fans and supporters.

References: Scanned from Modern Athlete Magazine, October 2011 Edition- used with permission

Growing up in Zimbabwe was tough on young Stephen, who ran because his uncle, Essau Magwaza, was a Champion Marathon Runner in his day, so running was in the genes. Transport to and from school was not possible, so he ran approximately 20km a day. As time went on, running 20km a day became easier for him, as it became the norm to do this trip. This probably laid the foundation for Stephen to become a Marathon Runner

He ran his first Marathon when he was 16 years old and finished the race but can't remember the exact finishing time. He says it wasn't fast, he was still very young. It was then that he thought he may have a talent for this running thing, but didn't really take it too seriously.

The seed had been planted.

In May 2004 Stephen went to South Africa where he met up with his current Coach, Cliff. He says he was not particularly fast, with a Personal Best marathon time of 2H48. He was a little overweight at the time, and his nickname with the Zimbabwean athletes was, (translated from Shona) "Fat Rat." But that didn't bother Stephen as he had a goal in mind - and that was to win the Comrades Marathon one day.

In 2005 he entered the City to City Marathon, which is a 50km race between Johannesburg and Pretoria, and while he thought he was ready for this race and could win it, he bailed. The race started and he ran comfortably with the thought that the front guys were going too fast and would tire out and he would catch them.

"At the 25km point I was so far off the pace, and the front runners were not slowing down. I was struggling and could not see me making another 25km. Cliff pulled me off the road and out the race. I climbed into the car and felt terrible that we had travelled so far and I was now disappointing so many people, as I wasn't even able to finish the race, let alone win it. I bailed!!!!!"

Driving back to Durban for 6 hours with the Coach was going to be tough!

Stephen's coach was, according to Stephen, disappointed in his performance but assured Stephen that he WOULD win the Comrades Marathon within the next 4 years - Stephen had to learn to be patient and disciplined to get the desired result.

Stephen had nothing to lose and everything to gain. He agreed to do what the coach recommended and how he wanted the training to be done.

Even though Zimbabwean, Stephen has touched the hearts and lives of many in South Africa, and all who know him love his wickedly witty sense of humour, his humble and modest demeanour, his loyalty to friends, passion to his sport and his dedication to his family. When Stephen is running, the whole world is there with him - every step of the way.

Muzhingi is a long-distance runner for Formula 1 Bluff Meats International club. He is the back-to-back champion of the Comrades Marathon (2009, 2010). He won the 2010 Comrades Marathon with a time of 05:29:01 - 5minutes slower than his first win in 2009. He is the first non-South African to win the Comrades and the first black man in the history of Comrades to win the up-run. In 2011, he became the first man in 23 years to win the Comrades Marathon three successive times and only the 3rd person in the 86 year history of the race to achieve 3 successive wins.

Stephen's Results


Year Direction Age Race No Club Time Medal Overall Pos
2005 Down 29 55925 Zimbabwe 06:40:37 Silver 123
2006 Up 30 55925 Harmony Int 06:24:26 Silver 53
2007 Down 31 55925 Zimbabwe 05:40:11 Gold 7
2008 Up 32 55925 Formula 1 AC 05:39:40 Gold 3
2009 Down 33 55925 Formula 1 AC 05:23:27 Gold 1
2010 Down 34 55925 Formula 1 AC 05:29:01 Gold 1
2011 Up 35 55925 Formula 1 AC 05:32:46 Gold 1

A permanent Green Number is awarded for winning the race three times or completing 10 races.