The Spar Women’s Challenge races in Durban and Pretoria were launched on Tuesday, with the Gauteng leg going with the payline “Why do you think life is beautiful?”, and the coastal city positioning itself as South Africa’s most beautiful road race.
Sahara Stadium Kingsmead will host the 24th edition of the Durban leg of the SPAR Women’s 10/5km on Sunday 23 June, and the 16th edition of the Pretoria race is taking place on Saturday 31 August, at SuperSport Park in Centurion (details follow below).
Almost 18 000 fabulous females have signed up for the finish line at the Sahara Stadium Kingsmead, where prizes worth thousands are to be won alongside entertainment for the whole family.
The Durban SPAR women’s 10/5km is a highlight for social runners and walkers alike, where they get to compete alongside the country’s fastest athletes as top professionals converge on Durban to compete in the SPAR Grand Prix Series.
Three of South Africa’s celebrated women Olympic Marathon runners have good intentions to compete. Defending champion René Kalmer, who has won more SPAR women’s races than any other runner, will be returning from injury having been forced to miss the recent PE Challenge.
Kalmer recently competed and had a great run at the Boston Marathon. Irvette Van Zyl will be chomping at her heels after coming tenth in the Virgin London Marathon in April, while local lass, Tanith Maxwell finished ninth in the Berlin 25km race recently.
Hot on the heels will be leading contenders Zintle Xiniwe, Christine Kalmer, Poppy Mlambo, Mapaseka Makhanya – who is currently leading the Grand Prix Series, and Rutendo Nyahora from Zimbabwe – who has won back-to-back SPAR races this year.
The 2013 race has a completely new look with the race route having had an extreme makeover. The starts for both races will be in Sylvester Ntuli (Brickhill) Road, adjacent to the Durban Ice Rink. Each race will have individual starts and half an hour will separate them, with the 10km ladies beginning at 08:00am and the 5km ladies heading off at 08:30am.
MD for SPAR KZN, Rob Philipson complimented the runners, “It is always fantastic to see the ladies come out in their thousands and support this wonderful race. We salute every single one of you for making the effort in being active and choosing a healthy lifestyle.”
“The SPAR Women’s 10/5km offers our KZN runners, a top professional event to pit themselves against their peers.” Says Sello Mokoena, president of KZN Athletics. “It’s a great social road-running event which goes a long way to encourage and develop an interest in running while at the same time the national Grand Prix series allows women athletes to have focussed goals to work towards.”
As for the race in Centurion end August, the Pretoria leg of the challenge, in proud association with Jacaranda FM, was launched at the Atterbury theatre on Tuesday, and as always, it was a celebration to remember.
For sixteen years, women of all ages, shapes, backgrounds, religions, occupations and social standings have come together to celebrate what they ultimately stand for and represent: their beauty.
This year, the SPAR Women’s Challenge is giving women an opportunity – a soapbox to stand on, if you will – to say why life is beautiful to them. “Life is beautiful because…” was also announced as the theme for this year’s challenge, and it was greeted with much enthusiasm and excitement by all who attended the prestigious launch event on Tuesday.
“Of course, this ‘beauty’ we are referring to is not something which can only be seen with the eye,” says Desmond Borrageiro, SPAR North Rand’s Managing Director. A huge portion of the SPAR Women’s Challenge’s success can be attributed to the hard work and dedication that SPAR North Rand have always put into the challenge.
“Beauty will, of course, wear different faces for women of different ages: if you are 7 years old, beauty might be a note left on your school desk during lunch. If you are 37 years old, beauty might mean accepting yourself for who you are for the first time in your life. If you are 70 years old, beauty might be hearing the cry of your first great grandchild. Whatever it is, we want to celebrate what makes your life beautiful with you.”
The SPAR Women’s Challenge offers women the opportunity to partake in a 5km or a 10km race and follows a scenic route through our nation’s capital.
“As always, some of our country’s finest athletes such as René Kalmer, Irvette van Blerk, and Charne Bosman will be competing in the Pretoria leg of the challenge and of course celebrating what makes their lives beautiful,” comments Desmond. “They will also have the opportunity to compete in the Grand Prix Series which the challenge has on offer every year – a series of five 10km races hosted across the country, which challenges the entrants to earn points based on their performances in each race.”
This year, the race organizers are capping the entries at 25 000 and the organizers and sponsors of the event are confident that it is, as in the previous years, going to be a day to remember. Pre-entries to “South Africa’s most beautiful road race” have already opened and women who wish to partake in the Pretoria challenge can find entry forms at selected SPAR, SuperSpar and KwikSpar stores, or they can enter online at http://www.ladiesrace.co.za/.
“An entry into the SPAR Women’s Challenge will cost R60 for all licensed athletes partaking in the 10km race, as well as 5km entrants, non-licensed athletes partaking in the 10km race pay R90 for their entries (which includes a temporary license),” concludes Desmond. “Every single one of the 25 000 beautiful participants who pre-enter at one of the aforementioned SPAR stores, will receive a t-shirt and their race number. For the second year in a row, we have also launched the official My Race magazine, providing runners with relevant health, lifestyle, beauty and fitness content.”
So not only will all entrants receive a goodie bag and a medal compliments of SPAR and the sponsors of the event upon completion of the race, but also a very cool magazine that will give them all the info around the race as well as health and fitness in general.
With only a few months to go before the Pretoria leg of the SPAR Women’s Challenge, why not go out and buy yourself a brand new pair of bright pink takkies and embrace this life, your health, your strength and your beauty this winter? And start preparing for the 31st of August, a day when “Life is beautiful because…” will become more than just four more words in your vocabulary.
To partake in Pretoria’s “Life is beautiful because…” action, join the SPAR Women’s Challenge on Twitter using the handles @SPARGrandPrix and @SPARladiespta, and you can also join the SPAR Women’s Challenge Facebook page – simply search for “SPAR Women’s Challenge (PRETORIA)”.
Click here to have a look at the rules and information you need to know for the Pretoria leg of the race.
Race entries for the Durban leg are available online at the SPAR Women’s Race website until 10 June, thereafter manual entries will be accepted at the registration at The SPAR Women’s Food & Lifestyle Expo.
Entry fees are R70 for the 5km event and for licensed runners in the 10km Un-licensed runners in the 10km race will be required to pay R80.
For more info or to enter visit www.sparwomensrace.co.za or join in the fun on social media: Facebook http://www.facebook.com/SPARWomens10and5kmRace or Twitter @SPARLadiesRace.
(Article compiled by gsport from copy by Oxygen Communications and Publicity Matters)
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