RUNAWAY SPAR GRAND PRIX VICTORY FOR TADU NARE
Cape Town , South Africa : Ethiopian runner Tadu Nare ( Nedbank ) ran her best 10km time to achieve a resounding win in the SPAR Grand Prix women ’ s race at Greenpoint in the City of Cape Town on Saturday . Her time of 31.28 was a record for the Cape Town race .
Nare finished nearly three minutes ahead of second placed Kesa Molotsane , who finished in 34.10 , just six seconds ahead of her Murray & Roberts teammate , Cian Oldknow .
Nare shot to the lead right from the start and was soon out of sight of the rest of the field .
“ I think I could have run faster if there had been more competition ,” said Nare through an interpreter .
“ I was very cold at the start , so I struggled for the first couple of kilometres . But I preferred this flat course to the course in Pietermaritzburg . I am training for the Barcelona Marathon in November , so I decided to go fast to help me learn to handle the pain .”
Nare said she found it easy to run in South Africa after training at altitude in Ethiopia .
Molotsane was delighted with her second place .
“ I have been struggling with injury and it feels good to be coming back to where I was ,” said Molotsane , who is a former SPAR Grand Prix winner .
“ I also preferred this route , particularly because it was it was only two laps . I found the three loops in Pietermaritzburg difficult to cope with .”
For Oldknow , it was a first podium finish . “ I was in ninth position at the halfway stage , but I was feeling good , so I decided to go for it ,” she said .
In the category for runners between 60 and 69 , Judy Bird ( Murray & Roberts ) broke Sonja Laxton ’ s record with a time of 40.19 , while former Comrades Marathon winner , Charne Bosman ( Murray & Roberts ) ran the fastest time ( 35.31 ) for a runner between 45 and 49 .
Nare ’ s second victory gives her an almost unassailable lead in the race for the overall SPAR Grand Prix title . The 2019 winner , Helalia Johannes ( Nedbank ), missed the first two races because she was recovering from the women ’ s marathon at the Tokyo Olympics last month , but she will be back in action in Durban next week .
While strict COVID-19 protocols do not allow spectators at any of the races in the series , the races will be live-streamed on the SPAR Grand Prix Series Facebook Page ( or you can watch via page 11 of this digimag ), and runners can be tracked live using the SPORTSPLITS App .
Sunday , 22 August Saturday , 4 September
2021 SPAR GRAND PRIX CALENDAR
Pietermaritzburg Cape Town
Saturday , 11 September Friday , 24 September
Durban Tshwane
Sunday , 3 October Saturday , 9 October
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