World Champ bemoans lack of Corporate Sponsors @CollenMakaza featured in @TheParadeMag #Zimbabwe, Come on Africa, its about #Teamwork

How delighted I am to see a full feature of our dear friend, and adopted family member, being featured in this brand new magazine. Issue number 2, April 2013, on page 53 the Sports Writer in Chitungwiza discusses Collen’s concerns about the lack of corporate support in Mr Pace Marathon, his brainchild from 2009, which is run under the auspices of the Harare Athletics Board, NAAZ and IAAF. Collen arrived in South Africa today to assist with athletes in the Comrades Marathon. Collen’s personal manager and agent is Craig Fry.

Not only has Collen (and we know this from personal experience) financed the majority of the marathon (and other races) from his own pocket, but he holds a full time job and still finds the time to train and run in prestigious races around the world, and he selflessly commenced the Mr Pace Marathon with the aim of giving back to the community he so loves, within the sport he so loves, and to “identify and nurture talent that lies in abundance, mostly in high density areas…”

Come on Africa, we can do better than this…. Rally around and put Mr Pace Marathon on the Global map as a race you need NOT to miss…. Africa has some outstanding athletes, collectively the best in the world in so far as running is concerned. Let’s work together to encourage and nurture the talent that lies throughout Africa, in the little children and young adults who look up to the likes of their Zimbabwean heroes, Collen Makaza and Stephen Muzhingi, amongst others.

Collen made history in 2010 when he beat the world record when he was placed first in the IAU World 50km championships in Ireland. In 2011 he could not defend his title due to injury, but in 2012, competed to come a respectable 2nd position.

But as a running nation, as a continent of elite runners, YOU can make a difference!  Click on the image links for full size images, and to read the article.

Images scanned from The Parade Magazine pages. Images of Collen used in the article are from my page http://www.squidoo.com/collen-makaza

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Find them:

Collen on Twitter http://twitter.com/collenmakaza

Craig on Twitter http://twitter.com/craigsathletes

The Parade Magazine on Twitter http://twitter.com/theparademag

http://www.theparade.co.zw/

Release: Top SA Sports Brand @32Gi -New @Modern_Athlete ad w/ World Champ @CollenMakaza

Collen Makaza, 2010 IAU World 50KM champ, and Podium Finisher at 2012 Two Oceans Marathon is fueled by Leading Brand, 32Gi

I was chatting to Mark Wolff of 32Gi over the weekend, a great guy and loyal supporter of my hubby Craig’s athletes… here 32Gi have integrated the persona of our dear friend, Collen Makaza, into their new ad campaign.  An amazing tribute to a world-class athlete by one of South Africa’s leading brands…

Says Mark Wolff:

In this latest advert of Modern Athlete Magazine (South Africa) we decided to use Collen Makaza. We embarked on a different approach in our marketing recently in which we took a decision to focus on our athletes, they are very important to us at 32Gi we value them in so many ways due to the assistance in product development, constant feedback and exposure they give us.

They are human beings living a very different life. The life of a professional athlete is very tough. It is the kind of profession where you cannot be good or mediocre, you need to be the best in order to survive and earn a living. It’s a dream for many athletes to compete at the highest possible level, but very few actually get there. It’s even harder when you have a family to support. Collen is one such athlete who achieved top honours in Ultra Distance Running by winning the World Ultra Marathon Champs in 2010. Collen then went on to suffer an injury which set him back for around 20 months where his dream of returning to his previous level of competition became a hope and a very tough battle both mentally and physically.

This year Collen decided to enter Two Oceans marathon with in his mind probably a really decent finish, but I don’t think he was prepared for what was about to be probably the most amazing day he possibly could have hoped to have. He was in contention throughout, putting in a huge effort to take top honors and he managed a 3rd place podium finish.

Immediately realising what had happened my complete attention was focused on this young man who had basically gone through hell and back to achieve such an amazing result. We wanted to honour Collen in our runners advert, because we are not just behind 1st place finishers we stand behind anyone who tries to achieve their personal best by overcoming their own personal obstacles to win the battle. Collen is such a person, so humble in nature yet of great talent.

WHO IS?

Mark Wolff is co-founder and director of 32Gi an energy supplements company. He is a nutrition expert, businessman and endurance athlete who is completely passionate about everything he does. He works closely with the professional athletes and teams ensuring that they are able to reach their full potential by leading proper health lifestyles. As Mark always say’s you can be the fittest, the fastest and the strongest but if you don’t eat correctly you can never reach your full potential. Mark spends much of his time trying to educate people on healthy nutrition, he completely believe there is no supplement for a healthy diet, no quick fixes only hard work and discipline.

Connect  on Twitter

32Gi

Collen Makaza

Craig Fry (@Craigsathletes)