Hiyane’s debut stuns her rivals at SPAR Women’s 10km Challenge

Twenty-one-year-old Ethiopian athlete, Hiyane Lama, dropped to her knees after taking the tape in this morning’s SPAR Women’s 10 km Challenge at a cold and wet Green Point in Cape Town this morning (Sunday 23 April), kissing the ground which gave birth to her impressive debut victory.

The unheralded Ethiopian upset her more favoured compatriot, Selam Gebre, by two seconds to win in 33 min 42 sec in a last-gasp dash for the line.

Another in the seemingly endless line of talented athletes from the Nedbank Running Club’s camp in Addis Abebe in Ethioipia, Lama was competing in her first 10km road race, but the manner in which she ran with the leaders before exploding at the finish with a winning sprint was more evocative of a seasoned professional.

Granted, Lama did have the advantage of a teammate who had seen it all before, although ironically Gebre, who raced the SPAR Grand Prix series in South Africa last year, is a year Lama’s junior at just 20.

An early morning cloudburst brought welcome rain to the Mother City but was less than welcome at the stadium precinct at Green Point as thousands of runners huddled together before the start.  Capetonians proved surprisingly resilient with only a minority of the 14000 entrants opting to seek the comfort of their beds as the storm raged this morning.

The wind, which blew into the faces of the athletes after they turned for home near Sea Point Pavilion for the final 4km, slowed the elite group up front, who had to be content with positions rather than pace and fast times on the day.

“I had planned to run sub-32 minutes but the weather was not kind,” said the Oromia-born Lama. “But I enjoyed my first race in Cape Town and it was a nice route overall for my first 10km.  We had no plans really – it took about 8km to warm up and then we were able to increase the pace a bit to get away from the South African.”

The only one of six siblings who is remotely ‘sporty’, this was Lama’s first trip beyond her country’s borders. “I’ve only been running five years, so I’m just a beginner,” Lama said. And the Ethiopian was unsure if she would race in the other SPAR races in the 2023 series. “I’m not certain, my manager said he would have to judge first how hungry I was!”

Leading South African, Glenrose ‘Supercharger’ Xaba, took the race to the visitors from the north, forcing the pace for much of the race before the ‘green power’ of the Nedbank international pair proved decisive in the final two kilometres.

“The first 7km of the race had gone well and then my legs suddenly felt heavy,” the Caster Semenya-coached athlete confided. “I think perhaps my 5000m on Monday was still in my legs (Xaba ran close to her personal best time at the Green Point track in an intense race with Kyla Jacobs).”

Xaba finished 21 seconds behind Gebre in third, narrowly holding off fast-finishing former SPAR Grand Prix champion, Free State athlete, Kesa Moletsane to take the additional cash incentive provided for the leading South African home.

Moletsane, who is studying for her honours in cultural anthropology at the University of the Free State, expressed her disappointment that the weather had thwarted an opportunity to run a fast 10km at the coast, but her satisfaction at SPAR for acceding to the athletes’ requests to provide financial incentives for South African runners.

Today’s race marked the thirtieth birthday of SPAR’s significant and long-lasting sponsorship of women’s running in South Africa, and Elana van Zyl, winner of the first SPAR 10km race in 1992, was on hand to congratulate the winners and share some of her insights.

“A huge congratulations to SPAR, who were also my first corporate sponsor,” said the South African distance-running legend. “And hats off to the thousands of women who came out to run in Cape Town on a rainy day.

“Women’s running has come a long way,” Van Zyl reflected. “Women’s distance running has made huge leaps forward. Training methods have improved substantially and technology has certainly taken steps forward with better equipment.

“In last decade there have been relatively few opportunities for women in middle distance running on the track and that has impacted road performances.  To be fast on road you need to be fast in the track over1500m and 5000m.

“I think when Derartu Tulu won the first Olympic gold medal for African women it opened the flood gates and many more followed.

“Today has been special for me. One the one hand it was great to watch today’s elites in competition after thirty years.  But there were also 100 girls from Endurocad’s Achieve program running the 5 km. This programme for high school girls from challenging backgrounds has a huge focus on the importance of an active and healthy body.

“The girls were singing before the start and enjoying being a part of a much bigger community of women. They were being given a key and are using the key to unlock new life experiences.

“I’d like to see more support from government to sustain our athletes, who are increasingly giving back to the wider community. SA has brilliant talent and our juniors champs are always top class. But we lose a lot of talent after school. Our local clubs should invest more in track and shorter distances.”