The quietly confident Krugersdorp schoolteacher Rene Kalmer (Mr Price Central Gauteng) rocketed to the top of the SPAR Grand Prix standings in the second of five races by winning the SPAR Mercury Women’s 10km Challenge with Bokomo, in Durban on Sunday.
After winning the first Grand Prix race in Port Elizabeth in May, the 26-year-old won the Durban race in a personal best 32 minutes, 54 seconds, and boosted her Grand Prix points to 66 after securing 33 points on both occasions.
Kalmer now leads the Grand Prix by 13 points ahead of third placed Soweto runner Poppy Mlambo, who finished behind Zimbabwean Tabitha Tsatsa.
Durban’s Grace de Oliviera, who won a Gold Medal for 10th place in the Comrades Marathon last week, finished 24th, and earned 13 bonus points for her Veterans division third place, to leave her fifth overall, on 35 points.
With her R50 000 winning cheque, Kalmer was awarded an additional 10 bonus points for beating the 2006 time, three for finishing in the Top 30 and 20 for first place.
Also representing the Kalmer family was younger sister Christine, currently studying civil engineering at the University of Arkansas in the USA on an athletics scholarship, who finished eighth in 35:27 seconds
Poppy Mlambo earned 21 points on Sunday, and has an accumulative total of 53 points after earning 32 points in Port Elizabeth.
42-Year old Russian entrant Madina Biktogirova, who finished third behind the Nurgalieva twins in the Comrades a week ago, finished the SPAR Mercury distance on Sunday with aplomb to secure sixth spot in an amazing time of 34:59 seconds for the run, a remarkable `double’ for the Russian runner.
Altogether 16 336 runners faced the starters in the Durban SPAR Mercury race proving beyond doubt the appeal of road running for women athletes.
With the SA half marathon in Durban next Sunday, many of the top flight runners including Sunday winner Rene Kalmer will be back again for another crack at glory.
Kalmer made the 2007 Durban SPAR Mercury race her very own almost from the start, when she an Zimbabwean Tsatsa opened up a huge gap over the rest of the field.
Kalmer conceded afterwards that she might have finished in an even better time, had she not begun the race so quickly over those first three kilometres.
Once she had sensed that the Zimbabwean was tiring after two very fast opening kilometres and a slower third, Kalmer broke away and ran the last seven kilometres of the race on her own.
She said: “I really ran as fast as I could, and even cut corners in a bid to save a few metres, as I need to collect all the points I can. Other commitments on an international scale will see me missing the next SPAR Women’s Challenge in Pretoria on August 24. In essence, I was chasing a time result.”
“Missing a race means that there are any number of top runners who can overhaul me, and I need to be in peak form to make up any points disadvantage in Cape Town in September, and Johannesburg in October.”
This year marks a comeback for the Krugersdorp teacher, after having missed two years of competitive running due to illness, but her plate is full for the next few months.
After the SA Half Marathon next weekend, she is off to Algeria to compete in the 1500 metres and 5000 metres events at the All Africa Games, and next week will switch to track running again, in a bid to gain an Olympic Games nod for Beijing.
She said she was delighted to have reached the finishing tape within the time limit of 33 minutes and thanked the crowds who lined the streets outside the Sahara Stadium, Kingsmead in Durban for urging her on to the end.
Ironically Kalmer was second in 2000 to Colleen de Reuck, who on that occasion set a Durban course record of 31:38, which is still intact.
Mlambo is also not going to be able to complete all five SPAR Grand Prix races because of international commitments. The diminutive ‘Sowetan’ has been a constant top-flight finisher in the Durban race since 2001 when she was third. She then won in 2002, 2003 and 2004.
In 2005 and 2006 she was pipped into second spot and now she finished third: “The starting pace Sunday by Rene and Tabitha was just too fast for me.”
SPAR Mercury Women’s 10km Challenge Results:
Sunday, 24th June 2007
Sahara Cricket Stadium, Kingsmead, Durban
Open:
1. Rene Kalmer (Mr Price) – 32:54
2. Tabitha Tsatsa (Harmony) – 33:45
3. Poppy Mlambo (Mr Price) – 34:22
4. Gloria Baeba – (Harmony) – 34:42
5. Annerie van Schalkwyk (Irene) – 34:48
6. Madina Biktogirova (Mr Price) – 34:59
7. Tshithwa Mundalamo (Harmony) – 35:23
8. Christine Kalmer – 35:27
9. Simangele Mabuza (Lekoa) – 35:30
10. Nicolene van Rooyen (University of Johannesburg) – 35:34
Juniors:
1. Portia Nwenya (Tsakane AC) – 35:47
2. Noria Sibanda (Harmony) – 36:24
3. Selinah Mofokeng (Lekoa) – 37:13
Veterans:
1. Madina Biktogirova (Mr Price) – 34:59
2. Sarah Mahlangu – 37:51
3. Grace De Oliveira (Mr Price) – 37:56
Masters:
1. Marietjie Ceronto (Harmony) – 42:00
2. Blanche Moila (Savages AC) – 43:39
3. Jenny Scott (New Balance) – 44:35
Grand Masters:
1. Lien Botha (Amazimtoti AC) – 45:33
2. Naome Nxumalo (Mr Price) – 53:39
3. Rachel Rossouw (Scottburgh AC) – 53:40
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