René praises Grand Prix’s value
... but says it should be for SA women only.
Three-times winner of the Spar Grand Prix and 2013 runner-up René Kalmer praises the Grand Prix for what it has done for the development of road running by South African women.
René says the introduction of the Grand Prix has done much to promote road running and to motivate runners.
“Before the Grand Prix you just did your best to try to win the race and you weren’t too concerned about times,” she said.
“But now that you get bonus points for beating your previous time, it means that finishing times have gone down significantly. You can’t afford to relax any more in case someone overtakes you.”
She says it is also important that the Grand Prix prizes are open only to South Africans.
Three of this year’s races were won by foreigners – the Cape Town and Port Elizabeth races by Zimbabwean Rutendo Nyahora, and the Johannesburg race by Ethiopian Gezashigh Hunduma Gemeda.
“Reserving the Grand Prix wins for South Africans only shows loyalty to the local runners,” she says.
“Although it is always good to run against world-class athletes, it is also important to support South African runners. And in turn the local runners are loyal to the Challenge series, which has done so much for development,” René says.
René finished second with 92 points, followed by her sister Christine who came third with 77 points. René will receive R30 000 and Christine R17 500.
Their Nedbank Gauteng Central teammate Irvette van Zyl, who was unable to run in Johannesburg because of a knee injury, came fourth with 68 points. The two-times Grand Prix winner will receive R15 000.
