More entrants in Savannah Mall race this year

Close to 1 000 runners from as far as Gauteng and Mpumalanga took part in the annual Savannah Mall 3 in 1 Race staged on Saturday.
The event was organised by the Management of the Mall in partnership with Polokwa-ne Athletics Club and saw professional and amateur runners partaking in the 21,1 and 10 km open races and 5 km fun run which started and ended at the mall.
The big winners on the day were Tebogo Pilusa and Jane Mudau. Pilusa, a member of Dwarsrivier Mine Athletics Club, won the 21,1 km men’s open race in a time of 1:08.25 to take home a gold medal and R1 000 in prize money. Mudau who runs for Polokwane Athletics Club outclassed her fellow runners to win the women’s 21,1 km open race in a time of 1:30.24. For her endeavours she also received R1 000 and a gold medal.
The men’s 10 km open race was won by Reghan Magwai from Tembisa Athletics Club in a time of 30:56. His prize constituted R1 000 and a gold medal. The ladies 10 km open race was won by Catherine Mongane from Transnet Athletics Club in a time of 39:33. She was also rewarded with R1 000 and a gold medal.
Category winners:
21,1 km, men
Veteran: Johan van der Merwe; Master: Lazarus Serokta; Grand Master: Andries Maimela
Walker: Emmanuel Mukondeleli
21,1 km, women
Veteran: Merriam Mooki; Master: Jane Mudau
10 km, men
Veteran: Bethuel Netshifefe; Master: Israel Madibana; Grand Master: Jannie Sako; Walker: Collen Mmola
10 km, women
Veteran: Corinne van der Merwe; Master: Makkie Joubert; Grand Master: Lilian Mazzaro; Junior: Tania Masia; Walker: Yoelanda du Plessis
Karen Botha, Group Marketing Manager for Savannah Mall said they were pleased with the number of entrants and proceedings on Saturday. “It was a huge turnout compared to what we had last year. We only had 465 runners last year and this year we surpassed the figure and that shows that the race is growing,” Botha said.
She also thanked the participants and invited all runners to join the race next year. “On behalf of the mall we want to extend our gratitude to all the runners that took part in the event. Without them there would be no race,” Botha said.
She further informed that plans are at an advanced stage to increase the prize money in all the categories to add more excitement to the race.

Herbert Rachuene
>>herbert@mailbox.co.za