Zim Comrades after SA cash

Their cross-border raids have proved fruitful in recent years, but long-distance athletes from Zimbabwe have never quite managed to pull off the biggest heist of all - the Comrades Marathon.

Zimbabweans have headed south in increasing numbers over the past few years, lured by the "big money" on offer in some of South Africa's bigger ultra-marathons.

And they have been relatively successful, athletes from that ravaged country running off with the booty - millions of dollars in their own currency - in races ranging from the Om Die Dam and Loskop 50km events to the 56km Two Oceans in Cape Town.

Zimbabweans will be hoping for better fortune in this year's Comrades, to be decided over 89,3km from Pietermaitzburg to Durban on Sunday.

Graham Daniel, manager of the Mr Price multi-national team, says he has a number of Zimbabweans in his squad capable of running off with the spoils come Sunday lunchtime.

"Following some impressive results on this year's road running calendar, the Zimbabwean athletes are now looking to challenge the greats in this year's Comrades Marathon," he said.

Favourite in his stable, says Daniel, must be Om Die Dam winner Sipho Ncube, who has certainly been having a good year on the local circuit so far.

He raced recently in KwaZulu-Natal, finishing fourth in the Savages half-marathon in 67 minutes, and winning the PDAC 25km.

Inland, he was second in the Pretoria Marathon in 2:30. Ncube used the race as a training run, six days prior to his Om Die Dam victory.

Daniel says that the Comrades distance could, however, be too much for Ncube, although he has upped his training distances

Another Mr Price tip is Paul Mhiza, who has been concentrating on distance work, including a 32km run the day before finishing ninth at Loskop. A week later, Mhiza was in KZN racing in the Mr Price Indian Ocean Marathon, where he finished fourth in 2:25.

Another Zimbabwean to watch, according to Daniel, is Shingirai Badza, who was 12th at Loskop and third in the PDAC 25km.