Northerns on song at Springs Striders Race

Mpumelelo Simelane and Thuli Mbatha were the Benoni Northerns Athletic Club’s (BNAC) standout performers at the Springs Striders Race at Veritas College in Pollak Park on January 19.

Simelane finished the men’s 15km race seventh in 55:36 while Mbatha clocked 01:09:58 for sixth in the women’s event. She also clinched victory in the master women’s (50-59) race.

The club’s septuagenarians were on song, with five finishing in the top 10 in the men’s and women’s races. Veteran Norman Milne was second in the men’s 70+ race. He crossed the line in 01:40:27 while Suzanne Snyman was a runner-up in the women’s 70+ event when she crossed the line in 01:51:57.

Agnes Kirsch (02:10:40), Sue Holden (02:12:19) and Sandra Madsen (02:22:32) finished seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively, in the same race.

Lynne Sample was sixth in the women’s grandmasters (60-69) race in 01:39:48 while Cailtyn Sequeira (01:29:06) and Gemma Whitehead (01:29:17) were eighth and ninth in the senior women’s race.

Wonderboy Hlophe finished the 50-59 men’s 32km double-lap race fourth in 02:26:50 while Jane Nielson was fourth in 03:20:48 in the grandmaster women’s race.

The men’s and women’s main races were won by Thabo Masina and Melinda Janse van Vuuren while Kate van Jaarsveld and Dumisani Mahlangu won the men’s and women’s 15km.

Also Read: WATCH: Runners glow in the dark at sold out BNAC Night Race

Also Read: Northerns’ Neilson and Thompson on form at race