Ethiopians favoured for rich pickings at SPAR Grand Prix Series Final in Cape Town

Many of the continent’s leading female distance athletes will be in action at the climax of the 2022 Women’s 10km SPAR Grand Prix circuit in Green Point, Cape Town tomorrow morning (Sunday 23 October).

Cape Town has hosted a number of high-profile 10km races in recent months, including the RUN YOUR CITY CAPE TOWN 10km, the Women’s Day 10km Challenge and last Saturday’s 10km Peace Run and this weekend’s action will be a fitting finale, offering both prestige and rich rewards.

One of the oldest on the continent, the SPAR series is held annually in 6 South African cities. This year’s season commenced in May in Gqeberha and was followed by Series races in Durban, Mbombela, Tshwane and Johannesburg (earlier this month).  Tomorrow will be the last opportunity athletes can score points to contribute to their overall ranking which will put them in contention for part of the Series Prize Purse of R630,000.

Sonja Laxton, Elana van Zyl, Rene Kalmer, Irvette van Zyl and Helalia Johannes are just some of the biggest names who have achieved Grand Prix victories. Johannes, the strong-running Namibian, took top honours in 2019 but missed last year’s series, opening the door for talented young Ethiopian, Tadu Nare, to bank the biggest cheque.

Johannes returned this year, winning the season opening in Gqeberha ahead of Nare, and looked to be set to repeat her 2019 success. However, Nare had other ideas, beating Johannes into second place in Durban, Mbombela and Johannesburg and also winning in Tshwane in August, which Johannes missed.

It’s virtually in the bag for 21-year-old Nare, who has enjoyed considerable success on South African roads and tracks in recent years (including four wins in this year’s SPAR series) and boasts impressive personal bests of 4:21,2 in the 1500m, 32:34 over 10km and 1:09:57 in the half marathon. And she will likely share the podium with her teenage compatriot, Selam Gebre, who has a firm grip on the Series’ second position.

Gebre was a surprise entry into last week’s Cape Town Marathon where her marathon debut was notable for her pace-setting in the lead group through the first half of the race, before she faded to 7^th after 40km, where she withdrew from the race. Whether she will have recovered sufficiently to race at her best tomorrow is doubtful, but it could well favour Johannes, who will be out to bookend the Series with wins in the first and final races.

The Namibian, who enjoys running in Cape Town and has achieved many titles in past years, looks set to clinch third place overall in addition to winning the Master’s 40-49 years category.

While local athletes are not expected to upset their visitors from the north, expect intense competition for the honour of being first South African home. 2018 SPAR Grand Prix winner, Glenrose Xaba (Boxer) has returned to her best form in recent weeks after a long struggle with injury. Olympic marathoner, Irvette van Zyl, is a doubtful starter, but Kyla Jacobs (Murray & Roberts), winner of last week’s Peace Run 10km, will be eager to push for a second podium in as many weeks, while last year’s SPAR Grand Prix Series runner-up, Kesa Molotsane (Murray & Roberts), Cacisile Sosibl (Boxer) and former title winners, Diana-Lebo and Lebogang Phalula (Boxer) and Mapaseka Makhanya (Nike) look good bets for top-ten finishes.  

 

The race gets underway from Vlei Road at 07h00 with the first runners expected home shortly after 07h30.

Current Series Rankings