Munashe Hove won the prominent 400m event at Keilor.

"If you look at the video there's a truck parked in the middle of the ground, so it obscures the view for part of the race. When Munashe disappears behind the truck he's in second last and when he comes out the other side, he's second, he just exploded," coach Adrian Fury said.

The 25-year-old started off the backmark of 20m, but snared the lead with 100m left.

"I was accelerating, but my body was racked with pain, I was tired and I was fatigued," the likeable Hove admitted.

"But I was running with my heart and my mind, thinking of the bigger picture, thinking of my family, thinking of my future, that motivated me."

The inspirational performance followed placings at Wangaratta and Ballarat.

Known as 'The Blazing Sprinter' back home, he grew up in a family of seven children, which included - quite remarkably - three sets of twins, of which he was one.

"(Laughs) It was both fun and sometimes you would clash, but when you are in a big family, you learn how to live together and you learn how to cooperate," he said.

However, his world was shattered when, as a teenager, he lost his father.

"It has been hard in Zimbabwe for me, my father passed away in 2009, he was the breadwinner in our family," he said.

"I had to struggle to go to school."

Despite the heartache, Hove threw himself into his schooling, topping fourth form (Year 10) with five distinctions.

He's retained that discipline too out of school, although the athlete's constant nemesis - injury - is threatening to derail his pro running plans.

"I spent a couple of months not being able to walk," he said.

"I reached a point where I thought I would never walk again in my life.

"The injury started in my back a few years ago, then it went to the hamstring and other areas," he said.

The nature of the complaint reduced Hove's top speed, forcing the one-time sprinter to move to the 400.

The injury and cooler weather at Keilor affected the most important part of any athlete - the mind.

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"I was very negative, I wasn't feeling confident, like I wasn't ready," he said.

"I realised that it was either sink or swim.

"I was thinking, 'I have been working really hard, so let me just do it for my family in Zimbabwe'."

Dad would have been proud.