The 42 km race is set to start and finish at the Stadium, passing through the northern suburbs.

Three time Comrades Marathon winner Stephen Muzhingi will be under the spotlight as he is one of the top athletes to compete at the event. Two Oceans Marathon winner Marko Mambo will also take part in today's event which will also see some foreign athletes who include Mbunguha Vetisee, Ottilie Aimwata, Rachel Akukothela, Anna Amutoko from Namibia while from Kenya Boniface Cheruiyot, Joshua Kipchumba and Edwin Korir are expected to compete.

National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe president Joseph Mungwari pledged support for the event, and said he hoped it would become annual. "It is extremely exciting to the local athletes. That will give them a lot of hope. This marathon is going to be competitive. It may be even be better in terms of prizes than some of the events in South Africa.

"This is going to be the beginning of good things to come and we hope it will be an annual event," Mungwari said.

The event was organised by the XHIBI-IT Event Management Company and the total prize money for the competition is $70 000.

It is one of the newest long distance events on the domestic calendar and is set to become one of Africa's major sporting events.

The event is set to attract a broad range of interests, promoting the spirit of endurance, fitness, friendship and fun.

It will also involve the corporate challenge with participants taking part in a 5km race, and the schools challenge focusing on encouraging young people to participate in sport.

The winner of the race in the main 42km marathon race will pocket a cool $10 000 in both the female and male categories, with the runners-up set to pocket $4 000 each.