With different winners in the three races in the Spar Women’s 10km Challenge series that have been run so far, the annual Spar Grand Prix is wide open.
Lebogang Phalula’s victory in the Durban leg on Sunday pushed her to the top of the Grand Prix ladder. Her podium finishes in all three races earned her a total of 57 points. She is 10 points ahead of her nearest rival, three times Grand Prix winner Rene Kalmer.
Although Kalmer had not finished in the top three in any of the races, her consistent performances have earned her 47 points. Her sister Christine and Cornelia Joubert are breathing down her neck, however, with 46 points each.
2013 Grand Prix winner Mapaseka Makhanya, who topped the ladder after the first two races, has dropped back to fifth position on the ladder, with 45 points, after finishing 18th in Durban.
Makhanya, who won in Cape Town in record time, and finished eighth in Port Elizabeth, said she had an Achilles injury, and had only run the race in Durban to earn vital Grand Prix points.
Last year’s Grand Prix winner, Diana-Lebo Phalula, twin sister of Lebogang, is in seventh position. She and Nolene Conrad missed the Cape Town race because they were representing South Africa in the world cross country championships in China, but Diana-Lebo won the Port Elizabeth race and finished sixth in Durban, to earn 35 points. She is one point behind Conrad, who was second in Durban and fourth in Cape Town.
Irvette van Zyl, who is expecting a baby in September, is in eighth position on the log, with 30 points. Van Zyl, who is a two times winner of the Grand Prix, finished 15th in Cape Town and ninth in Port Elizabeth and Durban. She says she intends to run in the Pretoria race at the end of August, although it will be only a couple of weeks before her baby is due.
As far as the clubs are concerned, there is a close battle between Nedbank and Boxer. After three races, Nedbank were on top with 196 points, while Boxer had 195. Transnet were in third place, with 96 points.
