Worrying that no record has been broken in men’s Blantyre 42.195km Race

* 2024 champion Mphatso Nadolo only claimed personal best from 2:26:58 last year to 2:22:05 done on Saturday

* In women’s Nalicy Chirwa defended her title in 2:57:02 against last year’s 3:00:07

The record of 2:18:40hrs set by veteran Henry Moyo in 2003 for the 42.195km of the Blantyre Marathon stood unbroken for 20 years until it was retired after the race evolved into the Blantyre 42.195km Race with a new route altogether.

In changing the name and its copyright, the Blantyre 42.195km Race is a 14km stretch of three times as a lap loop as opposed to the original of one long stretch up to the finish.

The route was changed according to new international standards to have loop laps marathons, as the previous route had very high gradients of above 1m per kilometre.

The old route started at Ginnery Corner Roundabout in Blantyre near NBS Bank to Chichiri Roundabout where it branched off towards Kwacha Roundabout all the way to TVM, past St. Columbus CCAP Church and all the way to Kudya trading centre.

At Kudya, the route headed towards Zingwangwa and all the way to Stella Maris Secondary School where it turned towards Moneymen Club then past Catholic Institute (CI) and reaching Sunbird Mount Soche Hotel in Blantyre Central Business District.

Then it turned to what is popularly known as Kandodo Corner where it branches off to Mbayani heading all the way to Kameza Roundabout before turning towards Machinjiri turn off where there is the Ernegem Filling Station.

It then headed into Machinjiri, past Luwanda Trading Centre; Area 5; Mkolokoti, Makhetha before joining the road from Zomba and going down past Lever Brothers; past Maselema Roundabout and reaching Chichiri Roundabout where it branched off Makata Road and entered into Kamuzu Stadium for the finish line in front of the VIP Stand.

For the new route, it starts at the main entrance of Kamuzu Stadium turning right along Makata Road to Chichiri Round About — to proceed along Masauko Chipembere Highway up to the Independence Arch where the athletes turned right for the Kasungu Crescent up to the entrance to Chichiri Shopping Mall to take the Kwacha road all the way to MBC TV.

After MBC Stadium, before reaching St. Columbus CCAP Church, the athletes turn right along Njamba Road up to Njamba CDSS to connect to Kenyatta Drive all the way to Kamba junction where they connect to Mahatma Gandhi Road to head for the junction opposite Malawi Red Cross.

They then held into Mandala Road up to CFAO turning right to reach Masauko Chipembere Highway up to the Clock Tower where they then take the Masauko Chipembere Highway all the way to Chichiri Round About and start another lap on the same route.

On the third lap, the athletes take Makata Road and held for Kamuzu Stadium through the main entrance up to the finish at the VIP Stand.

In the inaugural men’s category last year, the champion, Grevasio Mpani from Civo Athletics Club in Lilongwe set a record of 2:19:01 but he failed to break it on Saturday as he finished third in a time of 2:26:33.

In third place last year was Mphatso Nadolo in 2:26:58 and he is this year’s champion in personal best time of 2:22:05 — failing to break Mpani’s record of 2:19:01.

Though Moyo’s 20-year-old record of 2:18:40 was retired, Nadolo was also far from it as he was four minutes away from it.

In the women’s category, Nalicy Chirwa from Mzuzu was the race’s inaugural champion last year clocking 3:00:07 and she successfully defended her title breaking her record to 2:57:02.

She beat veteran runner Tereza Master of Mount Mulanje Club, who came second in a time of 3:02:59 — a personal best as she finished in 3:09:26 last year when she also finished as runner-up.

The modern 42.195km (26.219 miles) standard distance for the marathon was set by the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) in May 1921 directly from the length used at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London.

Late Kenyan athlete Kelvin Kiptum set the men’s world record time of 2:00:35 on October 8, 2023 at the 2023 Chicago Marathon while the women’s current record is at 2:16:16 set by Peres Jepchirchir on April 21, 2024 at the London Marathon.

The failure to beat Moyo’s record was enough case of concern if at all Malawian athletes are up to the task to qualify for prestigious international competitions. Even for Nadolo, he should have done better as he is professionally competing in South Africa.

Athletics, like other sports disciplines wrongly perceived as ‘minor sport’, is poorly funded and gets pretty little attention by the corporate world in as far as sponsorship is concerned — with whole focus on football.

The country’s elite Super League is sponsored by TNM at half a billion kwacha (K500 million) an increase by 350% from K150 million last in which the winner will receive K100 million with the runners going home with K40 million and third place at K30 million.

While Airtel Malawi increased sponsorship of Airtel Top 8 by a staggering 180% from K234 million to K655 million in which the champions’ prize money will be revised upwards from K30 million in 2024 to K35 million in 2025; and K40 million in 2026.

The FDH Bank Cup was increased for this year’s edition package from K120 million to K150 million and other cup competition is Castel Challenge, sponsored by Castel Malawi with NBS Bank supporting FAM’s charity flagship, the season opener Charity Shield.

For the Blantyre 42.195km Race, which is also a charity event, the champions in both men’s and women’s received K1.5 million each with K1 million each for runner-ups and K750,000 for third place.

In the 10km category, both male and female champions received K750,000, K500,000 for second place and K250,000 for third place  with K375,000 for champions in 5km, K250,000 for runners-up and K125,000 for third place.

Despite such a huge boost in terms of cash prizes, the athletes’ performance is still below what is expected as organisers of the competition, Malawi National Council of Sports, uses it as the runners’ platform to qualify for prestigious international marathons — especially the Olympic Games.

There is need for soul searching by Athletics Malawi, which in the past was riddled with controversies that involved fraud and maladministration, among other — but it now has new leadership under Kondwani Chamwala as president alongside Dennis Phiri (as 1st vice-president); Ivy Chinangwa (2nd vice-president); Nicholas Kanyenda (general secretary); Charles Senti Banda (vice-general secretary); Adron Msowoya (treasurer) and Henderson Chilenga (vice-treasurer).

They need to replicate what they campaigned for in order to revamp athletics in Malawi — and it should start by setting the right standards for athletics clubs to improve performances of their athletes.

They should eye to get closer to the 2:00:35 world record in the men’s category and the women’s 2:16:16 so that they could be considered for the Olympic Games.