A year ago, Lebogang Phalula (Boxer) announced her intention to win the 2015 SPAR Grand Prix title.

On Sunday, she accomplished this when she won the Johannesburg SPAR Women’s 10km Challenge at the Wanderers Club in 35.08 minutes, to add to her victory in Durban, and her podium finishes in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Pretoria.

Phalula and Rutendo Nyahora (Nedbank) broke away from the pack almost immediately, and continued to draw away from the rest of the field as the race went on.  At four kilometres, Phalula passed Nyahora and went into the lead. Nyahora finished second in 35.49 minutes.

Phalula’s twin sister and defending Grand Prix titleholder, Diana-Lebo, (Boxer) was third, in 36.22 minutes, five seconds ahead of Keneilwe Sesing (Randmark).

“I was very focused for this race. I knew the others would push me but I just wanted to go for it.  I was running with Rutendo at the beginning, but decided to push ahead from four kilometres. They have changed the route and I really liked the route today, so I was comfortable throughout the race”, the new champion said.

Lebogang said she was very grateful to the sponsors for the Challenge races, which provided a great motivation for road runners.

“I also want to thank my sister, because she pushed me to get up and train, when I just wanted to stay in bed.”

Zimbabwean Nyahora said she was very happy with her performance. “I have had a very good year, and I am very proud that I finished in the top three in all the SPAR races this year.”

Diana-Lebo, who was the first South African home in the Cape Town marathon three weeks ago, said her main ambition in Johannesburg had been to achieve a podium finish.

The Phalula sisters said their focus for the next year would be doing well in the 2016 Challenge series, but they have also set their sights on qualifying for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Lebogang is aiming to qualify for the 1500m, while Diana-Lebo said she still had to sit down with her coaching team and decide whether to focus on track running or try to qualify for the marathon.

Former Grand Prix winner Irvette van Zyl (Nedbank), who gave birth by caesarean section five weeks ago, surprised everyone, including herself, by finishing in 11^th place.

“I only started running again this week, so I am very proud of myself,” she said. 

“But next year, I am going to be going all out to start winning the Challenge races again, and I also want to qualify for the Olympic Games in the 1000m,” Van Zyl said.

There was a record entry of 13,358 runners for the 10km Challenge and the 5km Fun Run.