PARTICIPANTS in the Johannesburg SPAR Women’s 10km Challenge at Wanderers on Sunday, October 11, will run with the best road runners in the country.
The SPAR Challenge takes place in five centres around the country and is the third most recognised road race in South Africa, after the Comrades and Two Oceans Marathons. Thousands of women of all ages, shapes and sizes take part in the races, which are held in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Durban, Pretoria and Johannesburg.
A group of elite runners travel from venue to venue, running in as many of the SPAR races as they can to earn Grand Prix points. Elite runners receive points according to their performance in each race and because there has been a different winner in each race this year, the final Johannesburg leg will be a battle to the very end. The vivacious Mapaseka Makhanya won the Cape Town race, Diana-Lebo Phalula won in Port Elizabeth, her twin sister, Lebogang was first home in Durban and Rutendo Nyahora was the winner of the Pretoria leg last month. These runners are all in top form and the battle for the Grand Prix title will be fierce.
Other runners including Nolene Conrad, Cornelia Joubert, and the Kalmer sisters, Rene and Christine, will also be taking part.