Road-running fans will have their eyes firmly fixed on the Spar Women’s 10km Challenge in Port Elizabeth today (6 May) when South Africa’s top runners will be in action. One of them is a former learner from Roodepoort on the West Rand, Irvette van Blerk.
The runners who finished in the top three in the Cape Town race, namely Louisa Leballo, Kesa Moletsane and Irvette, all earned bonus points for finishing in less than the target time set for the race. The target time for Port Elizabeth is 33 minutes and 26 seconds which is within the capabilities of the top three or four runners and if the weather is good, the pace should be fast and competition fierce.
The top runners have not allowed the grass to grow under their feet since the Cape Town race on 2 April. Kesa won the 5 000m at the South African championships in Potchefstroom, using her powerful kick to clinch the title. Irvette was second and Nolene Conrad, who finished seventh in Cape Town, was third. Kesa followed up by winning the 5 000m at the SA Student Championships in Cape Town recently.
Irvette won the Two Oceans half-marathon. Nolene was second and Louisa third.
Another runner who has been in good form is Simonay Weitsz, who was first junior home in the Cape Town Challenge. She won the senior 1 500m event at the national championships in Potchefstroom. Others who are expected to compete are former Spar Grand Prix winners Mapaseka Makhanya and Lebogang Phalula.
Irvette, winner of the 2016 Grand Prix, can be expected to be more competitive in PE. She started strongly in Cape Town, but was caught at about 7km by Louisa and Kesa. She said after the race that she had been taken by surprise.
“I didn’t realise Kesa was in the race until 7km. Maybe, if I had known at the start I might have run differently. In the last kilometre, I knew I was in big trouble. Kesa has a big kick and Louisa was a surprise,” Irvette said. She is likely to change her tactics to meet the challenge on Saturday. However, Kesa is in superb form and will be hard to beat.
Louisa, Kesa and Irvette are well ahead of their nearest rivals on the Grand Prix ladder after the first race. But there are five races to go, and with a first prize of R173 000 up for grabs, South Africa’s top runners will be going all out to earn maximum Grand Prix points.
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