GALLERY: Girl power goes to athletes of the 2019 SPAR Women’s Challenge

SPAR Women’s Challenge 10km Grand Prix winner Helalia Johannes, from Namibia, wins big.

November 20, 2019

Annette van Schalkwyk 2 minutes read

THE year 2019 will go down as one of the most competitive years in SPAR Women’s Challenge, having top international competitors making their mark in the competition.

SPAR Women’s Challenge 10km Grand Prix winner, Helalia Johannes from Namibia, has snatched up the grand prize in front of her South African counterparts and set a tone that will be the pace of next year’s series.

The opening of the SPAR Grand Prix to international athletes has been good for the event, but it has also been brilliant for road running in South Africa as many athletes ran their personal bests this year.

She will go down as the most successful athlete yet to have competed in the 10km Challenge Grand Prix series. Johannes (Nedbank) pocketed a cheque of R185 000 at the SPAR Grand Prix Awards.

Not only did Johannes, a 39-year-old Namibian star, win all six races in the SPAR Women’s 10km Challenge series, she did so in record time. She is the first runner to claim maximum points in the SPAR Grand Prix, finishing with a total of 180 points.

Johannes also smashed her own Namibian 10km national record several times, and shortly before the final race in Johannesburg, she won a bronze medal at the World Athletics championships in Doha, Qatar, finishing third in the women’s marathon.

Ethiopian junior, Tadu Nare (Nedbank), came second with a total of 151 points. She received R65 000. Nare finished second in Port Elizabeth, third in Cape Town, second in Durban, Tshwane, and Maritzburg and fourth in Johannesburg. She earned bonus points for finishing faster than the previous winning time in Port Elizabeth, Cape Town, Durban and Maritzburg.

Nare also wrapped up the junior category in stunning fashion, earning the maximum 40 points from the four races that counted for the SPAR Grand Prix.

The 2017 SPAR Grand Prix winner, Kesa Molotsane (Murray and Roberts), was third, with 122 points. She received a cheque of R40 000. Molotsane’s third place was proof of the value of consistency in the SPAR Grand Prix. She always finished in the top eight, and earned bonus points from three of the races.

Three-times SPAR Grand Prix winner, Irvette van Zyl (Nedbank), was fourth, with 120 points, despite having to miss the Tshwane race after undergoing surgery. She earned bonus points in four of the five races she ran.

Last year’s SPAR Grand Prix winner Glenrose Xaba came sixth, after a quiet start to the year.

SPAR Grand Prix coordinator Ian Laxton said the performance by Johannes and Nare has been outstanding.

Johannes said she was honoured to have won the SPAR Grand Prix title.

“When I ran my first SPAR Challenge race, I was just trying to improve my speed for marathons, but I learnt to love the SPAR races. Although my focus was on marathons, I was very happy to do so well in the Challenge races,” said Johannes.

With four of the top ten SPAR Grand Prix finishers coming from the Nedbank stable, Nedbank cleaned up in the team event, finishing with 762 points, well ahead of their nearest rival, Murray and Roberts, who finished with 288, 17 points ahead of Boxer, who finished third.

The Grande Dame of South African road running, Sonya Laxton, achieved a major milestone at the Joburg race last month when she completed her 100th SPAR Women’s race.