Excitement is building for the first road race in North West since the Covid-19 outbreak. Music Café’s Let’s Go Potch 5-,10- and 21-km races taking place at 9 Gerrit Dekker Street in Potchefstroom on Saturday, 6 November.
Let’s Go Potch is the brainchild of Shofar Church Potchefstroom, wanting to host an event where community and the love of running meet every year.
Athletics Central North West and Motion Sport also came on board to create this official road running event.
“We bought the property in 2016 and the church has always had the vision of using the property, not only for the congregation but also for the entire Potch community. We already have a coffee shop and co-working space here and this race is another way of creating community and providing Potchefstroomers with a fun event. We hope to establish this as an annual race on the calendar,” said Christo Louw, senior pastor at Shofar Potchefstroom.
The response has been tremendous since the race was launched, with numerous local sponsors coming on board and entries growing weekly. Runners can participate in 5-,10- or 21-km races, which all start and finish at the Gimmies Oval, across the road from Shofar Potch.
Medals will be awarded to the first 750 finishers. The 21-km runners will start at 06:00, the 10 km participants at 06:15 and the five-km contenders at 07:00. The runners will roughly move from the Gimmie Oval, in the direction of Potchefstroom Dam, through the Bult area and towards Van der Hoffpark, before returning to the finish line.
Members of the public are encouraged to support the runners as they race through the leafy green suburbs of Potchefstroom.
The Olympian and SA 10,000 m record-holder, Elroy Gelant, is the official ambassador for the race, while the SA middle- and long- distance athlete and SA record holder in the 3,000 m, Jerry Motsau, will add star power with his entry into the 10-km race.
Registration for Saturday’s races will take place at the Shofar Church building from 05:00. Visit www.motionsport.co.za for more information.
Prize money: 21.1 km 1 – R500 (open), R350 (junior) 2 – R350 (open), R250 (junior) 3 – R200 (open), R150 (junior)
10 km 1 – R300 (open), R200 (junior) 2 – R200 (open), R150 (junior) 3 – R100 (open), R100 (junior)
Entry fees: 5 km – R60 10 km – R100 21 km – R150 
