René Kalmer came out tops in the inaugural SPAR Grand Prix, collecting a cool R50 000 after winning four of the five SPAR Women’s Challenge races, and beating runner-up Annerien van Schalkwyk by the comfortable margin of 132 points to 99.
The West Rand school teacher took line honours in Port Elizabeth, Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg, with only a 4th place in the Pretoria leg spoiling a perfect year, and no-one else had much of a chance.
Van Schalkwyk, who has made a meteoric rise in South African distance running this year, took the runner-up spot just a single point clear of Durban veteran Grace de Oliveira in a nail-biting competition that lasted all year.
Catherine Nkosi was 4th with 92 points, 6 clear of Poppy Mlambo, who missed the Pretoria race as she was running in the World Athletics Champs in Japan.
The SPAR Grand Prix used a formula combining overall race position as well as positions within the age categories of junior, veteran, master and grandmaster, to give runners other than seniors the chance to compete on a level footing with the top athletes.
In addition, bonus points were scored when the corresponding overall and age group times from the 2006 race were beaten.
Prizes went down to 20th place, but with 4 runners scoring the same points for the last position, a total of 23 runners collected prize money at the awards function.
Of the 23, 12 were seniors, 6 were juniors, 3 were veterans and the master and grandmaster categories each had one representative. All in all, R150 000 was given away to these athletes.
For everyone else who scored points, SPAR will send a commemorative certificate, indicating that they have achieved the distinction of placing on the leaderboard. In total, 148 runners from all over the country scored 1 point or more.
Grandmaster Wendy Wilkins, who placed 18th overall, paid tribute to the role SPAR has played in women’s road running for the past 17 years. Speaking at the ceremony today, Wilkins said, "Up to half a million women have taken part in the SPAR races over the years.
"These range from walkers and ladies who just want to go out there and have fun with their friends, to elite athletes who set records, win big money and run at the Olympics and World Championships.
Every single one of them has a special place in her heart for the role that SPAR has played in their running lives over all these years. Today I thank SPAR for everything they have done for us.”
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