Top three in Durban : Neheng Khatala , Tadu Nare and Glenrose Xaba

ROAD RUNNING

The top five all dipped under 33 minutes in another fast race on this Durban course , and the top 10 finishers included four South Africans , three Ethiopians and three athletes from Lesotho , highlighting the attraction of SA ’ s top women ’ s road running series for elite African runners . The Durban event boasted an impressive entry of 9653 athletes runners overall , across both 10km and 5km distances , as the SPAR Women ’ s Challenge field followed the Grand Prix elites around the fast Durban course .

( After two legs of the 2024 Series )

Open

Pos . Athlete Club CT Dbn Total 1 Glenrose Xaba Boxer 30 29 59

Images : Darren Stewart / Gallo Images

The Boxer star scored 30 points when she won in Cape Town , and added another 29 points in Durban . Runners score 20 points for a win , 19 for second place , etc , down to 20th place , plus they can earn up to 10 bonus points for finishing in a time faster than the previous year ’ s winning time in that race , and other incentives .

Ethiopian junior Diniya Abaraya is in second position on the log , on 55 points , after finishing second in Cape Town and fifth in Durban . Meanwhile , Cacisile Sosibo proves the value of consistency in the SPAR series – she finished ninth in Cape Town and eighth in Durban , and now finds herself in third position on the log with 35 points , having also earned 10 bonus points in Cape Town .

The Champ is Back

Three-time SPAR Grand Prix winner , Tadu Nare of Ethiopia , finds herself in fourth position on the log with 30 points , having won the Durban race with bonus points . She made her debut in the series in 2019 as a junior , finishing second in four of the races , as well as claiming a third and a fourth place , and finished runner-up in the Grand Prix that year . When the series returned in

2021 after the COVID pandemic , Nare stormed to the Grand Prix title with six wins out of six , including a personal best 31:28 in the Cape Town leg , and then she retained her title in 2022 by winning five out of six races ( plus a second place ).

In 2023 , she only raced four of the six races , due to preparing for marathon races as well , but her four wins were enough to take the Grand Prix title for the third consecutive year . Now , having returned to the series in 2024 with her 16th overall SPAR race win , she said the SPAR Grand Prix is still extremely important to her . “ It has helped me financially , and it has helped me as an athlete , because this has been my starting point for running in international half marathons and marathons .”

As mentioned earlier , Xaba subsequently broke the SA Record two weeks after this SPAR event , posting a time one second faster than Nare ’ s winning time here , but the Ethiopian already knew the local star was a threat to her hopes of claiming a fourth consecutive Grand Prix title to her list of accolades . “ I am so pleased to see how Glenrose has improved since I first ran against her . I regard her as a real challenge and I know how hard she is working , so I will have to work hard , too , if I want to win the Grand Prix again ,” said Nare .

Great Incentives

The SPAR Grand Prix is the largest womenonly 10km road race series on the continent , boasting a prize purse of R2 million over five races . The first South African on the year-end leaderboard will also get to drive a Proton X50 SUV for a calendar year as part of her prize .

Athletes ’ best performances in four of the five SPAR 10km Challenge Grand Prix races will count towards the final winner at the end of the season . This means that runners will be able to remain competitive in the SPAR Grand Prix if they miss races because of injury or because they are representing their country internationally . This is especially relevant in 2024 , given that the Olympic Games in Paris take place in late July to early August , at the same time as the Tshwane event in the Grand Prix series .

40-49

50-59

60-69

Clubs

is an official media partner of the SPAR Women ’ s Races and the SPAR Grand Prix . More info on both can be found at www . sparwomensrace . co . za

45