Hollywood Athletics Club Sub-Elite star Mfundo Chagwe says he's aiming to make his mark in the Marathon in 2025 with a longer-term goal of graduating to Ultra distance. Chagwe finished eighth at the Bhekizizwe Joseph Shabalala Marathon in 2024, clocking an impressive time of 2:24.54 on the challenging course.
Upcoming Hollywood Athletics Club athlete Mfundo Chagwe is aiming to improve his performances on the road this season. Chagwe, who specialises in 10km and half marathon distances, delivered some solid performances last year resulting in the club offering him a Sub-Elite contract, a first in his promising career. Chagwe joins Lindelani Mjwara in the newly formed sub-elite program which is designed to discover upcoming runners who have the potential to break into the Hollywood Athletics Club Elite Team.
Chagwe, who has a 10km personal best of 29:34 achieved in the 2023 edition of the Hollywoodbets Durban 10km race, believes getting a contract will play a crucial role in terms of planning his timetable.
“To get a contract with Hollywood came in handy for me. It assisted in properly planning which races I should do. In the past, I used to run all the races to get enough money to support myself. Now with the support I’m getting from the club, things have changed dramatically. Now I can run to fulfil my potential,” he said.
The 27-year-old who hails from Bulwer outside of Pietermaritzburg devoted himself to running because of his older brother Thobani Chagwe, who also is part of the Hollywood Athletics Club.
“At first I didn’t pay too much attention to running as I used to play football. But seeing my brother being involved with running as well as coaching kids in the area made me to fall in love with the sport,” he highlighted.
“My love for the sport was really ignited when I saw my brother leaving at home for running trips. Then I started to run 800m up until to 5 000m. I would say my brother inspired me to take my running to another level. Now, the next step is to be able to beat all the times he has made in different distances. To achieve that I must continue to work hard to make it possible,” he added.
Chagwe who has expressed his admiration for multiple Olympian Stephen Mokoka for his commitment and achievements in sport, plans to improve on his Marathon debut time from 2024 this year in preparation to graduate to ultra distances in future. As he aims to improve and run faster times in the shorter distances, this will contribute in his quest to run a faster Marathon.
“My biggest aim this year is to run a fast Marathon, but that doesn’t mean I won’t be doing shorter distances like 10km and 21km. I’m trying to prepare for the future as I aim to run ultra distance in the upcoming years. I need a good Marathon time if I want to succeed in ultra running. Another goal is improving my time in all the distances I’m running,” he concluded.
