Van Zyl capture last leg of SPAR Women’s Challenge
Irvette van Zyl (Nedbank), won the SPAR Women's Challenge Joburg leg.
AKESA Moletsane was runner-up at the SPAR Women’s Challenge Joburg leg but kept her top position on the Grand Prix log.
The Joburg SPAR Women’s Challenge marked the final leg of the Grand Prix competition and was held on October 8 at Marks Park.
Irvette van Zyl (Nedbank), who is second on the Grand Prix leaderboard, had to perform a miracle at the Joburg leg to overtake top Grand Prix leader, Moletsane, on Sunday and despite her sterling run in the elite women’s challenge 10km, she could not do that.
She led from start to finish to win the Joburg SPAR Women’s 10km Challenge.
She finished in 34:48, beating Kesa Moletsane (KPMG) by 59 seconds. Nolene Conrad (KPMG) was third in 36:19.
On a new route, which followed a twisting and sometimes difficult course, there was a sizeable gap between them and the rest of the field.
“I knew she (Moletsane), had a kick and could close the gap any moment so in the beginning, I ran at a good pace to place myself in a good position’” said Van Zyl.
“At the end of the race, where there was a couple of hills, I knew that she will not make an attempt to catch me and I went well ahead and got my win.”
Molotsane’s second place was good enough to secure her victory in the 2017 SPAR Grand Prix. The defending champion, Van Zyl, was second and Conrad third in the Grand Prix competition.
“I had a good race. My legs weren’t too tired after the Cape Town marathon and I was determined to win,” said Van Zyl.
“I was a bit worried about Kesa, who always hangs back a bit. I had a bit of a dip between six and eight kilometres and just tried to put enough space between us. When I was still in the lead with a kilometre to go, I really pushed it, because I didn’t want to lose in a sprint.
“I always like a hilly route, although this one was quite tough,” she said .
“It was a very good competition and Kesa has done brilliantly to win the Grand Prix in her first year of road running,” said Van Zyl.
“I lost my chance of winning the Grand Prix when I dropped out of the Durban race with an injury, but I am very happy with my performance.”
Moletsane said she had not done much training and just wanted to earn enough points to make sure of winning the Grand Prix.
“I felt I was in control, but when I got to eight kilometres, my kick just wasn’t there. But I am very happy with my run and I feel very humbled by winning the Grand Prix title.
“It is a fantastic series and I will definitely be back next year,” said Molotsane.
Conrad said she found the first half of the route quite easy, but the second half was tough.
“I felt the altitude a bit,” she said.
“I didn’t come in with fresh legs because I am seven weeks into training for a marathon in November.
“Luckily, the others were quite far behind us so I was able to keep my third place,” she said.
“I am very proud to have finished third in the Grand Prix. It isn’t easy to stay on top in a six race series.”
Deirdre Larking (86), who only started running in her late 70s, won the Great Grandmaster title in 1:4:30.
More than 16 000 entered the race, which was run on a cool and overcast morning.
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