Molotsane tips Xaba to end SA drought in SPAR series

The SPAR Women’s Challenge ambassador and veteran middle-distance runner Kesa Molotsane believes Glenrose Xaba could end SA’s six-year winless run in the SPAR Women’s Challenge Grand Prix series.
Speaking at the launch of the Jozi leg of the competition on July 4, at Red Roman Shed at Emperors Palace, Molotsane said she is adamant the current series leader, Xaba, will challenge Ethiopian Tadu Nare’s dominance in the competition, which includes the main 10km race and a 5km fun run.

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Xaba won the season opener in Cape Town in March and missed her PB by two seconds when she clocked 31:57 for second place in Durban in June. She is the last South African to clinch the series.
“As you’ve already seen how Glenrose announced her dominance in the previous race in Durban, 2024 is our year. I think we stand a better chance of having a South African win the Grand Prix after a six-year drought,” said Molotsane.

The Jozi race will take place on October 6, at Marks Park in Emmarentia from 08:00.

It was launched to much fanfare with elite athletes like Renè Kalmer, Olympics-bound Cian Oldknow, Cacisile Sosibo and visually-impaired runner Louzanne Coetzee in attendance.
Lift Molotsane, who won the Cape Town leg of the series in her debut in 2017, said the presence of overseas runners like Nare has raised the profile of long-distance running for women in the country.
“Their presence has brought so much change. We’ve seen lots of athletes achieving sub-33s in the 10km. At this point, we are announcing ourselves under 32 minutes because Glenrose ran 31:57 in Durban. We just need to stabilise that and make it a common thing to see in the Grand Prix.”

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Three-time series winner Kalmer, who first took part in the series as a 14-year-old in 1994, agreed with Molotsane that the international runners have lifted the standard of the event.
“I think up to a point SA ladies motivated and lifted each other but now we need more competition, to improve and record world-class times. Glenrose was the perfect example in Durban. She’s the leader and it’s nice to see,” she said.

SPAR has increased the prize money for the competition to R2m.

The retail’s national PR, communications and sponsorship manager Mpudi Maubane said this was to empower women.
“We increased the incentive to increase participation because the more the merrier. We want to spread a message to our athletes. It’s an empowerment mechanism for them to look at the SPAR race as one of the vehicles they can trust,” Maubane said.

She added, “It comes as a great token of commitment to say we appreciate women from all corners of our society and we trust women in this country. For us more than anything else, it’s an empowerment mechanism for women to take it upon themselves to go out there and make a difference.”

Molotsane welcomed the cash injection, saying it will boost women’s long-distance running in the country.
“The more money in the series gives lots of support for athletes on and off the road. We are pleased as ambassadors that it brings change in their lives,” she said.
Olympian Rutendo Nyahora from Zimbabwe hailed the competition for changing her life.

“I’m grateful to SPAR. I’ve been taking part in the series for 18 years. It has changed my life. I managed to build a house for my parents. When I came to SA, I was young. I wanted to change my life because I grew up in a poor family,” she said.

More than 12 000 runners are expected to take to the streets of Jozi in the last race of the series on October 6.

The entries open on August 2.

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