Even though she missed the first leg in Cape Town and the final leg in Johannesburg , Tadu Nare clinched her third successive SPAR Grand Prix title by cruising to four consecutive wins in the Gqeberha , Durban , Mbombela and Tshwane legs of the 2023 series . Athletes ’ four best results in the six-race series counted towards their final points tally on the Grand Prix points log , meaning Nare had an unassailable lead of 120 points , even if she didn ’ t run the first and last races . She scored a perfect 30 points in each race , with 20 for the win and 10 bonus points for beating the previous year ’ s winning time .

Nare has dominated the series since it resumed in 2021 after the COVID-enforced break in 2020 , losing only one race out of the 16 she has competed in over the past three years . Behind her , fellow Ethiopian Selam Gebre ’ s win in Johannesburg moved her points tally a little closer , from 116 to 118 , but that was not enough to change the order of the top two podium positions in the series .

This means that Nare will collect R200,000 and Gebre R100,000 for their efforts in the SPAR Series this year , in addition to their individual winnings at each race . Nare therefore takes home an impressive R320,000 , and in total , the diminutive Ethiopian has now earned more than R900,000 in three years of racing in this South African series , making all the travelling back and forth from Addis Ababa to Johannesburg worthwhile !

Going into the final race , Lesotho ’ s Blandina Makatisi was in third place on the points log , just one point ahead of SA ’ s Glenrose Xaba , but with all of the South African athletes in positions four to seven focussing on the World Road Running Champs in Latvia the same weekend as the Joburg SPAR race , the final podium position on the SPAR log was also a done deal . Makatisi finished fourth in Joburg and thus remained on 109 points to Xaba ’ s 108 . Behind them , Cacisile Sosibo was rewarded for a consistent season ’ s racing by earning 80 points for fifth place on the final log .

ROAD RUNNING

The Grand Prix top four in order : Tadu Nare , Selam Gebre , Blandina Makatisi and Glenrose Xaba

Incentives for Local Stars

Since the SPAR Grand Prix was opened to international runners in 2018 , the six-race competition has been dominated by international runners , with Namibian Helalia Johannes winning the SPAR Grand Prix twice and Nare winning it three times . After the race , Gebre said she felt the South African coaches need to push their runners harder if the South Africans are to be competitive internationally . “ You have excellent facilities here , so there is no reason why the South Africans should not do better ,” she said .

This year SPAR announced that there would be additional prize money available to the top five South Africans at the end of the season , meaning that Xaba took home an additional R75,000 for finishing first in this sub-competition of the series . Sosibo ’ s econd place earned herself another R50,000 , while Cian Oldknow , Kesa Molotsane and Lebo Phalula rounding off the top five .

This is how the series standings look after the sixth and final race in Johannesburg , with individual runners scoring points in their categories , and clubs scoring points depending on how many athletes qualified for points in these categories .

Tadu Nare was the runaway winner of the 2023 SPAR Grand Prix , for a third consecutive year

1 Tadu Nare Nedbank / Ethiopia 120 2 Selam Gebre Nedbank / Ethiopia 116 3 Blandina Makatisi Maxed Elite / Lesotho 109 4 Glenrose Xaba Boxer 108 5 Cacisile Sosibo Boxer 80 6 Cian Oldknow Hollywood 72 7 Kesa Molotsane Murray & Roberts 71 8 Lebo Phalula Boxer 55 9 Irvette van Zyl Hollywood 49 10 Lebogang Phalula-Luthuli Boxer 41

1 Makhosi Mhlongo Hollywood 20 2 Simone Botha Boxer 14 3 Leilani Scheffer Run / Walk For Life 10

1 Ronel Thomas Boxer 39 2 Janene Carey Phantane 38 3 Shani Silver Boxer 13

Glenrose Xaba finished as the best of the South Africans on the final log

1 Judy Bird Boxer 40

was proud to be an official media partner of the 2023 SPAR Grand Prix .

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