Popular Spar Women’s race 2020 cancelled
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and nationwide lockdown, most sporting events involving large numbers of people have been cancelled.
This includes the annual SPAR Women’s 10km challenge events.
Mike Prentice (SPAR group marketing executive) said although South Africans are allowed to exercise during level 3 of the lockdown, they are not allowed to run in groups, which makes races involving thousands of runners impossible.
“This is part of a worldwide trend that has played havoc with sporting events around the world and also in South Africa. As a result, hosting the very popular and lucrative 2020 version of the SPAR Grand Prix has not been possible,” Prentice said in a statement.
In the SPAR Grand Prix challenge, elite female athletes score points in all six of the 10km races and at the end of the year take home substantial cash prizes in various categories.
The SPAR Grand Prix will however, be back next year and the race will be bigger and better than ever,” Prentice assured athletes.
He added that they will be guided by government as they move into 2021, but are already planning for next year’s challenge.
“We know that many elite runners earn a living from running races and therefore we will be offering a total prize money pool of around R600 000 for the Grand Prix. This is over and above the substantial prize money already available in each of the races,” Prentice concluded.
