Great turn out and a romantic twist at 2018 SPAR Irene Lantern Night Race
Serious athletes, fun runners, families and innovative men with romantic hearts were all part of this year's SPAR Irene Lantern race.
Romance took the spotlight at this year’s SPAR Irene Lantern race that took place last week on Valentine’s day and which also saw some of the province’s top runners competing to produce outstanding winning times.
Romance was definitely in the air on this special day as runners turned out in their thousands to take part in Gauteng’s favourite night time race.
A scenic route winding through the beautiful suburb of Irene, lit by hundreds of lanterns set the scene for the ultimate declaration of love. In the time honoured tradition of grand gestures on Valentine’s Day, one gentleman who had ran the race with his girlfriend, surprised her with a proposal on stage during the official prize giving – and the answer was “yes”, of course.
The huge turnout at this year’s race was remarkable – proving the popularity of SPAR’s annual night race event. Families, couples and groups of friends turned out to enjoy the post race festivities and the prize giving was wholeheartedly applauded by the large crowd who gathered to enjoy some fresh air and a night under the stars in the tranquil Irene surrounds.
The overall race winner was Lucky Mohale who took first place in the Men’s Open category for the second consecutive year with a time of 32:39. Esau Radebe took the second place position in the men’s open with Reginal Poopedi coming in third.
Last year’s second place, Liziwe Mabona, managed to bag the top spot in the Ladies’ Open category this year with a winning time of 38:30. Madri Wiid followed in second place and Elize Meiring took third.
SPAR North Rand Marketing Director, Jerome Jacobs, commented on the success of this year’s Lantern race saying that he was thrilled that SPAR had once again had the opportunity to host this unique running event.
“There are so many reasons to love this particular race and that is why we see such a remarkable turnout year after year. This year we were fortunate enough to have the 14th of February – Valentine’s Day – fall on the day of the race. This added an extra element of romance to this year’s atmosphere and it showed,” said Jacobs.
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