There are new names at the top of the leaderboard after the first race in the 2017 SPAR Grand Prix Series.
A newcomer to the race, Louisa Leballo of Nedbank, won the Cape Town Challenge race on Sunday by a one second margin and she tops the leaderboard with 30 points.
Another SPAR Challenge debutant, Kesa Molotsane (KPMG), is hot on her heels with 29 points, followed by three times Grand Prix winner, Irvette van Blerk (Nedbank), who has 28.
The top three runners each received 10 bonus points for beating last year’s winning time, but 39-year-old Leballo’s winning time of 32.58 minutes was two seconds short of the incentive time set before the race, so she did not qualify for a R5000 bonus. Leballo’s time was a personal best for her, beating her previous fastest time of 33.29 minutes set in Soweto in 2003.
The 2015 Grand Prix winner, Lebogang Phalula, is in fourth place with 17 points, followed by Cornelia Joubert on 16 and 2013 Grand Prix winner Mapaseka Makhanya on 15.
Van Zyl, the defending champion, said on Sunday it was a relief that the first race was over.
“It’s done now and we can all settle down. There are five more races in the Grand Prix and things can change over the year,” she said.
“We will all be watching each other and seeing how we go.”
The winner of the junior category last year, Simonay Weitsz, is once again on top of the leaderboard, with five points. Last year’s runner up, Nicole van der Merwe, is in second place with four points.
Janene Carey leads the 40-49 category and Judy Bird is on top of the 50-59 category. Bird, who finished in 38.48 minutes, had one of the best performances of the day on Sunday, beating last year’s time and also beating the target time to take five bonus points as well as a cheque for R2500.
Nancy Will is on top of the leaderboard for runners over the age of 60.
Grand Prix points are accumulated in the six SPAR Challenge races in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Durban, Pretoria, Pietermaritzburg and Johannesburg. The winner this year will receive a whopping R173 000. The next race takes place in Port Elizabeth on Saturday May 6.
COMPETITION
Stokvel Talk and Spar are giving 10 lucky readers and opportunity to win R1 000.00 Spar shopping voucher by simply answering the below question:
Who won the Cape Town challenge race on Sunday 02 April 2017. Readers can send their answers to the below email:
sportsfocus@lenakacom.co.za
The competition closes on the 07 April 2017 and winners will be notified via telephone.
