Sunninghill Striders hosts their first official 10km
SUNNINGHILL – Sunnighill Striders complete their first 10km race.
Sunninghill Striders Running Club can be proud of how their first official 10km road race went. The Sunninghill Food Lover’s Market 2 in 1 saw about 750 runners line up at Chilli Lane Shopping Centre on 22 September for a 10km run and 5km fun run.
The weather was already warming up when the horn blew for the start at 7am and it turned into a beautiful day out. “We had no major incidents and no complaints at all,” said the running club’s chairperson, Nestor Espinoza. “In fact we had many compliments and people said they would be back next year with their friends.” He added that organisers were a little worried when entries for the run started slowly and only picked up late. However, due to the short distances of the run, many people pitched up on the day and registered there.
“It is not like a marathon where people have to prepare and plan ahead. Many people woke up and saw good weather and decided to come.” The Striders also outdid themselves by having a Lamborghini as the lead car with a timer on its top for runners to see from behind. “We also had three water points when we only needed two. The main thing for us was that everyone enjoyed the run and we built a good reputation for it.”
This included giving every runner a medal and goodie bag with fresh fruit from Food Lover’s Market. Werksmans attorneys sponsored 10 children of Liv2Run, a charity in Lanseria, to run. Two of these children achieved good results – Simphwe Ngeva finished fourth in the 10km run and Lethabo Moropanu was the second female runner to finish the 5km fun run. The event saw some of Joburg’s best category runners on the road.
Godfrey Mothapo won the 10km run in 0:34:43. The first woman over the line was Sanette Snyman in 0:47:18. Road running celebrities, Sonja Laxton (71) and Deirdre Larkin (88) were also on the road and finished first and second respectively in the 70+ age category. Espinoza promised that the run next year would be the ‘same but bigger’ and have a greater emphasis on fun things to do after the run.
Details: Sunninghill Striders info@sunninghillstriders.co.za
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