Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 126, January 2020 | Page 9

ADVERTORIAL
Helalia Johannes, winner of
the 2019 SPAR Women’s 10km
Challenge Grand Prix Series
Johannes Most Successful
SPAR Grand Prix Winner Ever
The 2017 SPAR Grand Prix winner, Kesa
Molotsane (Murray & Roberts) finished third
on 122 points, taking home a cheque for
R40,000. He podium finish was proof of the
value of consistency in the SPAR Grand
prix, as she always finished in the top eight,
and earned bonus points from three of the
races. Behind her, three-time SPAR Grand
Prix winner, Irvette van Zyl (Nedbank),
finished the series fourth, with 120 points,
despite having to miss the Tshwane race
after undergoing surgery. She also 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.
With four of the top 10 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 & Roberts, who finished with 288, with Boxer a further 17
points back in third.
Outstanding Year
The most successful athlete in the history of the SPAR
Women’s 10km Challenge Grand Prix awards, 39-year-old
Namibian star Helalia Johannes (Nedbank Running Club),
pocketed a cheque for R185,000 at the 2019 SPAR Grand
Prix Awards ceremony at Emperor’s Palace in Ekurhuleni
on 18 November.
N
ot only did Johannes
win all six races in the
SPAR Women’s 10km
Challenge series for the year,
she did so in record time at
each race, and she is the first
runner to claim maximum
points for six wins and six
course records 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 also won the
bronze medal in the women’s marathon at the World Athletics championships in
Doha, Qatar.
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, and I was very happy to do so well
in the Challenge races.”
Ethiopian junior, Tadu Nare (Nedbank), finished second in the Grand Prix with a
total of 151 points, and received R65,000 in prize money. She finished second in
Port Elizabeth, Durban, Tshwane, and Maritzburg, third in Cape Town and fourth
in Joburg, also earning bonus points for finishing faster than the previous winning
time in PE, 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 this age category.
SPAR Grand Prix coordinator Ian Laxton said the performance by Johannes
and Nare has been outstanding this year. “Never before has a runner achieved
bonus points in every race. What is even more important is that other runners
have dramatically improved their times as they strive to keep up with Johannes.
Opening 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. I expect even more
athletes from elsewhere in Africa to start taking part and that will be good for the
competition, but also very good for road running in South Africa.”
SPAR Marketing Director Mike Prentice said the SPAR Grand Prix was a jewel in
the grocery chain’s sponsorship crown. “We are very proud of what the runners
have achieved,” he said. “This year, a record number of elite athletes earned bonus
points for beating last year’s winning time and that can only be good for road
running in South Africa. But what is more important is that thousands of women
have taken to the streets right across South Africa. We are committed to our SPAR
family and we believe that helping so many thousands of women to live an active
life is good for the country as a whole.”
Centurion Sonja Rewarded
The Grande Dame of South African road running, Sonja Laxton, achieved a major
milestone at the Joburg race in October when she completed her 100th SPAR
Women’s race, and SPAR marked her remarkable achievement at the awards
ceremony when they presented her designated charity, the Goldilocks Foundation,
with a cheque for R50,000 on her behalf.
The Goldilocks Foundation is a non-profit organisation which helps children with
Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and other mental disabilities. It is
a cause close to
Sonya’s heart, as her
daughter Kim Walker
is a psychiatrist who
is well aware of the
shortage of help for
children with mental
illnesses. “I am so
happy to be able to
contribute something
to the Goldilocks
Foundation,” said
Sonja. “It does
invaluable work with
needy children.”
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