Elite runner, Irvette van Zyl hopes to put the recent controversy behind her and prove she can win by normal standards in the last stage of the SPAR Grand Prix Series.
Van Zyl won the SPAR Women’s Race Pietermaritzburg after five other elite runners were disqualified after taking the wrong route.
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This happened when the leading pack, in which Van Zyl found herself, approached a loop through the Mayor’s Garden.
The lead cars were not able to go through the narrow gate, but there was a lead bicycle to take the runners through.
Van Zyl followed the bicycle but the other four followed the lead cars, cutting off a section of the route.
The Nedbank runner expressed disappointment at winning in this way but revealed at the media launch of the upcoming Joburg race that some runners did not see it her way, and laid the blame and criticism on her.
When 7 October comes and the streets around Marks Park Sports Club, Emmarentia, are filled with 16 000 runners, Van Zyl will have the chance to defend her Joburg title and prove she can win the normal way.
“There has been a backlash and I didn’t expect it,” she said candidly. “I now want to win without controversy. Whenever I line up to run, I want to win.”
Van Zyl is fifth in the SPAR Grand Prix series and will have to beat Kesa Molotsane by some margin to overtake her in fourth spot due to a vast points difference.
She had given birth to her second son, Gideon, only nine weeks before winning in Pietermaritzburg, and said she was in even better shape than she was this time last year.
“My race time [in the Joburg race] might be even faster than last time. I like the tough courses and it is very hilly.”
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