IN PHOTOS: South Africans #LiveLimitless as one at SPAR Women’s Virtual Challenge

Now in its second year, the SPAR Women’s Virtual Challenge brought family, friends, colleagues, neighbours and strangers together in a show of camaraderie. Photos and posts of participants flooded our social media feeds from locations across South Africa, from Lephalale to Kakamas, Postmasburg to Nottingham Road, Gqeberha to Fourways and of course, Mbombela.

Trending throughout the weekend, the hashtags #LiveLimitless and #SPARVirtualChallenge painted a vivid picture of South Africans’ zest for life.

The SPAR Women’s Virtual Challenge was launched in 2020 as a homage to South African women’s resilience and strength amid the uncertainty and strife brought on by Covid-19. As a virtual event, there were no geographic boundaries to the race, while participants could decide on their location, route, pace, and whether to do it alone or as a community.

“Thank you to all 57 800 participants who entered the SPAR Virtual Women’s Challenge on Saturday. This was our second virtual challenge and first national one,” said Sean Komlosy, marketing director of SPAR Lowveld.

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“The event was a huge success. We could not have done it without you or our generous sponsors. To everybody who tagged us on social media using the hashtags #LiveLimitless and #SPARVirtualChallenge, thank you. We loved seeing all your photos and videos. Not only did we want our participants to enjoy themselves, but also to know that if we set ourselves the goal to overcome our challenges, we can #LiveLimitless and make a difference while doing so!”

By entering this year’s event, participants were able to show their solidarity and make a tangible difference in the lives of young girls. There is a stigma and shame attached to their menstrual cycle for many young girls in South Africa. Due to the lack of access to simple hygiene products, they must make the difficult decision between embarrassment or education.

For each entry, a pack of sanitary pads will be donated to help keep a girl in school through the SPAR Petals Project. The Petals Projects advocates for shame-free education for all young women. The entries for this year’s event, in addition to individual donations, will enable SPAR to donate 110 000 sanitary packets towards the Petals Project.

“We virtually walked together in support of keeping girls at school – even through their menstrual cycles – and by doing this, we play a small part in bringing them closer to a decent education, breaking the cycle of abuse and dependency,” said Komlosy. “We showed up for the extraordinary young women of South Africa and celebrated their dreams to #LiveLimitless.”

In Mpumalanga, GRIP and Mataffin Men’s Forum ran from Crossing SPAR in Mbombela. Other groups were seen running on the plains of Kaapsehoop among the wild horses and along the escarpment at Blyde River Canyon, while others chose the trail at Friends Café. Other Lowvelders strutted their stuff as far as Sabie Park, Mozambique and New York.

The SPAR Women’s Virtual Challenge is proving to be a popular addition to the annual racing calendar. It is expected to grow and help communities to break down barriers and #LiveLimitless.