Yesteryear Greats with Lovemore Dube
FORGOTTEN former Zimbabwe middle-distance runner Letiwe Marakurwa will break new ground for local sportspersons when she launches her book “Running to America” this week.
The effort is expected to inspire future generations that no matter where you come from, you have a chance to use your talent to be anywhere in the world.
It could be one of the pioneering autobiographies by a Zimbabwe athlete.
The history of local athletes is poorly documented and a few works have been done to document, profile and perpetuate individuals’ legacies on the track and field.
Only in recent years Germany based Albert Chiwandamira has attempted to do documentaries but is disappointed that there are no commercial takers for his George Shaya and Tymon Mabaleka projects.
“We would like to tell their stories while they live so that they receive or hear their praises. The costs of production are not so high but steep if financed as an individual. There also have to be mass markets for the products we produce. The history of our legends has to be captured to inspire future generations,” said Chiwandamira early this year before the launch of the Tymon Mabaleka documentary.
Now Mrs Patton, Marakurwa arrives in Zimbabwe on Wednesday for the launch and National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe president, Tendai Tagara is ecstatic about the development.
“We are delighted that our former athletes are coming on board to write their journeys,” said Tagara.
Marakurwa-Patton was born on 2 June 1978 and attended Hande Primary School at her birth centre, Dorowa before moving to Bulawayo’s Inyanda High School where her talent began to show in the middle distances in the mid-1990s.
It is no surprise that the athletics bug caught up with her there, as the mine was an ever-present and active participant at the once thriving Chamber of Mines Tug-of-War, Track and Field Championships.
From the Gwabalanda school, Marakurwa-Patton moved to Herschel V Jenkins High School in Savannah, Georgia in the US where she did two years of high school. While in the US, she attended Life University, Marietta, Georgia and the University of Idaho.
Inyanda High School
It was probably an era of the best young long and distance female runners in the country with the likes of Nokuthula Munkuli of Nechilibi High School in Hwange, Margaret Mahohoma, Zondiwe Nyoni, Sibusisiwe Nyoni, Busi Nyoni, Singazi Dube, Samukeliso Moyo, Jane Makombe, Faith Kamangira and Siphulwazi Sibindi. Marakurwa-Patton was high up there with this class that set records too and dominated the scene.
From Inyanda she was spotted and went to the US to complete her high school with representing Zimbabwe in the 1997 World Junior Track and Field Championships among her earliest good achievements.
In the United States where she was on scholarship, she set the national 3 000m steeplechase record of 9 minutes 52,98 seconds on 13 June 2003.
Marakurwa-Patton has never forgotten her club coach Michael Chikoto of Dorowa Mine Running Club who worked with her until she left in March of 1997 for the US on an academic and athletics scholarship.
Because of the promise she showed, she was awarded an International Olympic Committee Scholarship (IOC) to train in Georgia with the hope that she would make it to the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
Letiwe’s athletics achievements:
(Junior Athlete) Events : 3 000m & 5 000m National Record holder: 3 000m 9.46.97 in Lisbon on 20/07/94. She broke her 3 000m national record on 03 April 1995 in Petersburg when she recorded 9.45.15. 5 000m: 17.08 85 in Harare on 29 April 1995 The 3000m was broken by Jane Makombe on 7 July 1999 when she ran 3 000m in a time of 9.37 29 in Bydgosczc.This record has been standing. The 5000m record was broken by Siphulwazi Sibindi in a time of 16.18.16 in Annecy on 2 August 1998.
In the book’s foreword Tina Papaya wrote: “An Athlete’s Journey from Zimbabwe As a young girl living in Zimbabwe, the author discovered she had a talent — running. She joined a local track club, was mentored by a dedicated coach, and eagerly entered the world of cross-country competition. Her meteoric rise was a surprise, but it was not without sacrifice. She became the Junior Women’s Cross-Country Champion of Zimbabwe. At the age of 18, with the goal of becoming a world-class athlete, she travelled to America, a country where she knew no one. The author takes the reader on a bumpy, soul-searching, heart-warming and sometimes heart-breaking ride. It is a compelling story told with openness, warmth, humour and insight.
“Throughout the memoir you see a tenacious trailblazer. In some places it made me laugh. I realised how often women in Zimbabwe, like Letiwe’s mother, are the powerhouses behind their children’s success. Letiwe does a great job of taking the reader along to meet her family, friends, coaches and those who transformed her life beyond what she envisioned. This page turner is an easy read. It is not a typical immigrant story. At its heart it shows Letiwe to be a determined, driven and fearless person. It will inspire readers to believe anything is possible.”
