Nare wins Durban Spar Grand Prix
The defending SPAR Grand Prix champion, Tadu Nare ran a superb race to win the 10km SPAR Grand Prix Durban race on Sunday morning finishing at 31.50 seconds.
The defending SPAR Grand Prix champion, Tadu Nare ran a superb race to win the 10km SPAR Grand Prix Durban race on Sunday morning finishing at 31.50 seconds.
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Nare beat the 2019 champion, Helalia Johannes of Namibia, by nine seconds. Another Ethiopian, Selam Gebre, was third in 32.17, to give Nedbank a clean sweep on the podium.
Irvette van Zyl (Nedbank), three-times SPAR Grand Prix champion, was the first South African home, in 33.03 minutes, followed by another former champion, Kesa Molotsane (Murray & Roberts) in 33.16.
Nare and Johannes ran side by side for most of the race until Nare broke away at nine kilometres, sprinting to the finish. The first 12 runners all finished in under 34 minutes.
Nare, who finished second to Johannes in all six races in 2019, as well as in Gqeberha last month, said everything had gone according to plan.
“My aim was to win the race and I knew I had to stick with Helalia and not let her get away. At nine kilometres, I decided it was my do or die moment, so I summoned up all my energy and broke away.”
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Johannes, who also won the over-40 category, said she was feeling very tired at the start of the race, after spending most of the day at airports in Windhoek and Johannesburg on Friday having missed her flight out of Namibia.
“It was not my day today, but I am happy to have run a good race, despite being tired,” she said.
Enoch Skosana, Chairperson of the Athletics South Africa Road Running Commission said he was impressed by the performance of the athletes in Durban.
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“The field was top class and of high international standard. Times posted by the top 12 runners are a clear indication that this year’s SPAR Grand Prix series is going to be very competitive,” said Skosana.
The next SPAR race will be the inaugural Mbombela race on July 16.
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