Publications
Partners
Johanneburg - Irvette van Blerk finished on top of the SPAR Women's 10km Challenge Grand Prix it was announced on Wednesday.
Top athletes competing in the five Challenge races (that make up the Grand Prix), run in Port Elizabeth, Cape Town, Pretoria, Durban and Johannesburg, had the opportunity to score Grand Prix points, with the top runner receiving prize money of R60 000.
There are cash prizes for the top 20 runners.
Van Blerk, who won the Pretoria, Durban and Johannesburg races, after finishing second in Port Elizabeth and eighth in Cape Town, collected a total of 112 points - 20 ahead of her nearest rival, Rene Kalmer.
"The Grand Prix is a really good idea," enthused Van Blerk. "It really makes it worthwhile to run in all the Challenge races." "It makes the Challenge races more competitive, because you know the best are going to be there."
Twenty-three-year-old Van Blerk said the money would help her as she prepares for another important year in athletics. "I'm planning to go for the marathon next year," she said.
"I want to go to the world championships and also to the Olympic Games in London in 2012, and I think the marathon is the way to go. I know I'm young, but I'm very excited about tackling a new distance." Kalmer, who has won the Grand Prix twice in the four years of its existence, won the first two Challenge races, but was hampered by illness later in the season.
Zintle Xiniwe was third, with 79 points, followed by Thozama April (64) and Nandipha Dywili (60).
