SPAR Grand Prix Ambassadors are excited ahead of elite series

The SPAR Grand Prix gets underway at the end of June and two of the competition’s best-known runners, René Kalmer and Kesa Molotsane, have been named as ambassadors for the series.

The two women have expressed delight at being the faces of the SPAR Grand Prix, which offers prize money of more than R2 million over the six-race series.

“SPAR has played a huge role throughout my running career over the past 30 years,” said Kalmer, who has won more SPAR 10km races than any other runner, and who has won the Grand Prix three times.

“I feel honoured to be able to represent the SPAR Grand Prix. It is going to be a very different this year, with only 250 runners in each of the six SPAR Grand Prix races.”

She said runners would miss the excitement of taking part in a race normally featuring thousands of entrants, but the elite runners were happy to be racing again.

Molotsane, who won the SPAR Grand Prix in 2017, said being an ambassador for the series blended well with her own efforts to promote healthy living and good nutrition.

“I work with the Mother and Child Academic Hospital which is attached to the Universitas Hospital in Bloemfontein. We help mothers throughout their pregnancy and until the baby is two years old, giving advice on various aspects of healthy living. So what I am doing as an ambassador for the SPAR Grand Prix works well with that,” she said.

Molotsane is returning to competition after sustaining an injury that kept her out of action for several months, and like Kalmer, is looking forward to a return to competitive running.

“It is hard to motivate yourself to train when there is no competition, so we are all very excited at the thought of testing ourselves in a race once again,” she added.

The first race in the six-race SPAR Grand Prix series would have taken place in Durban on 27 June but was postponed due to the third wave of Covid-19 infections. SPAR Group Marketing Executive Mike Prentice said the decision to postpone the race was not taken lightly.

James Moloi, the President of Athletics South Africa, explained, “We took note of the pronouncement made by the Gauteng government that in the next two weeks the rate of infections will reach its peak there.“We therefore felt with the bulk of participating athletes coming from there, we needed to protect the Durban leg of the SPAR Grand Prix and everyone since the third wave has been more brutal in all provinces that are affected. Let’s stay alive, to run another day.”

Prentice added, “We fully intend to host all six SPAR Grand Prix races this year, but only when conditions are safe.” Athletics SA said it was a sad decision to reach considering all the spade work that has been put into preparing for the race.