Van Zyl wins in Johannesburg, but Molotsana is SPAR Grand Prix champion
Although Irvette van Zyl won the last race in the SPAR Grand Prix series on Sunday, she was still dethroned as overall champion in the series.
Pretoria’s Irvette van Zyl led from start to finish to win the Joburg SPAR Women’s 10km Challenge at Marks Park in Emmarentia last week.
Van Zyl finished in 35.08 minutes, beating Kesa Moletsane by 19 seconds. Nolene Conrad (KPMG) was third in 36.39.
There was a sizeable gap between these three athletes and the rest of the field, on a new route which followed a twisting and sometimes difficult course.
Molotsane’s second place was good enough to secure her victory in the 2017 SPAR Grand Prix. The defending champion, Van Zyl, was second and Conrad third.
“I had a good race. My legs weren’t too tired after the Cape Town marathon, and I was determined to win. I was a bit worried about Kesa, who always hangs back a bit. I had a bit of a dip between six and eight kilometres, and just tried to put enough space between us. When I was still in the lead with a kilometre to go, I really pushed it, because I didn’t want to lose in a sprint. I always like a hilly route, although this one was quite tough,” said Van Zyl.
Van Zyl stressed that it was a very good competition, and according to her Moletsane has done brilliantly to win the Grand Prix in her first year of road running.
“I lost my chance of winning the Grand Prix when I dropped out of the Durban race with an injury, but I am very happy with my performance,” Van Zyl concluded.
Moletsane said she had not done much training and just wanted to earn enough points to make sure of winning the Grand Prix.
Conrad said she found the first half of the route quite easy, but the second half was tough.
Eighty-six year old Deirdre Larkin, who only started running in her late 70s, won the Great Grandmaster title in one hour 4.30 minutes.
More than 13 000 entered the race, which was run on a cool and overcast morning.
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