Ethiopian Tadu Nare wins 3rd consecutive SPAR Grand Prix

Ethiopian Tadu Nare (Nedbank Running Club) has won her third consecutive SPAR Grand Prix, notching up an unassailable 120 points after winning four of the six races in the series with times fast enough to score bonus points in each race.

Under the 2023 rules, where an athlete’s four best scores over the season count for the final tally, Nare elected to miss the final race in Johannesburg so she could prepare for the Chicago Marathon on October 8.

She is the third athlete only after Rene Kalmer and Irvette van Zyl to score a hat-trick of wins in this series.

Fellow Ethiopian Selam Gebre (Nedbank Running Club) finished in second place, with 116 points. After finishing runner-up in the first five races this year, she collected her first win in Jozi, when Nare gave the race a miss.

In a podium clean sweep by foreign athletes, Lesotho’s Blandina Makatisi (Maxed Elite Running Club) edged the top South African, Glenrose Xaba (Boxer Athletics Club), by a single point (109 to 108), to take third place.

Cacisile Sosibo (Boxer Athletics Club: 80 points), Cian Oldknow (Hollywood Athletics Club: 72 points), and Kesa Molotsane (Murray and Roberts Running Club: 71 points) rounded off the top seven.

Athletes rewarded

Nare collected a whopping R200 000 for her efforts, while Gebre took home R100 000.

For the first time, the top five South African athletes are being rewarded financially, over and above their Grand Prix winnings. By clinching this competition-within-a-competition, Xaba won R75 000. Sosibo, in second place among the local runners, took home R50 000 and Oldknow R30 000. This lifted the overall Grand Prix prize purse to R765 000. Adding in the cash on offer at the six individual races, a total of R1.9m was earned by these runners over the season.

Age category winners

Judy Bird (Boxer Athletics Club) again won the aged 60+ category. The ever-consistent grandmaster has made a clean sweep of her age group category for an impressive three years in a row.

In a tight contest in the 50-to-59-year-old category, traditional rivals Ronel Thomas (Boxer Athletics Club) and Janene Carey (Phantane Athletics Club) locked horns again, with Thomas squeaking home by a single point (39 to 38).

Makhosi Mhlongo’s two bonus-point victories were enough to take her to the top of the 40- to 49-year-old category.

In the club competition, Boxer Athletics Club, with 531 points from 25 scorers, took the overall win ahead of Nedbank Running Club (404 from 30) and newcomer Hollywood Athletics Club (209 from 6).

Cornerstone of success

Nare says the SPAR Women’s 10km races were the cornerstone of her success as a high-profile athlete.

“I want to encourage young South African athletes to use the SPAR Grand Prix series as their backbone for speed and endurance.

“My first SPAR race as a junior was my first race internationally. I remember it so clearly. It changed the whole of my life and the way I think,” says Nare.

“I was beaten several times and I used to feel frustrated, but I kept going until I became a champion. I am happy to defend my title and I want to do so next year as well.

Xaba says she felt blessed to be the first South African to receive the additional prize money.

“I think winning this award will make us work harder in future,” she adds.

“We at SPAR are very proud to sponsor the SPAR Grand Prix, which after 15 years is firmly established as arguably the world’s leading road running series for women,” says SPAR national sponsorship and events manager Charlene Subbarayan.

“Congratulations to Tadu for another imperious display of front-running.

“We are also delighted that this year, we were also able to reward the top South African runners, who responded to the challenge by taking on the East Africans, who dominate distance running across the world,” says Subbarayan.