Maritzburg SPAR Women’s 10 / 5km Pietermaritzburg: Sunday 7 August
The running of the Maritzburg leg of South Africa’s Most Beautiful Race will be taking to the roads of the KZN capital on Sunday 7 August for the annual SPAR Women’s 10/5km.
Settling back into its usual winter date, the race will have a field of green flowing along the roads in and around The Oval where an expected 4,000 athletes will be taking the challenge of the two distances. The event is the biggest women’s athletic event and second biggest annual road running event to take place in the city aside from the Comrades Marathon.
Both the routes will remain unchanged, with the start line set adjacent to Maritzburg College’s main rugby field, Goldstones, and the finish line in The Oval cricket stadium.
Both races will start at 8.00am after the playing of the National Anthem. The 10km and 5km participants will set off together with the first half of the race looping around the outskirt of the CBD, with the 5km race turning into The Oval and the 10km athletes doing another loop around the schools’ precinct, before returning back to The Oval.
A strong field of local runners is expected to compete this year with the defending champ, Tebogo Masehla rumoured to be back. The big names in this year’s SPAR Grand Prix will be flying the South African flag at the Rio Olympics which leaves a win and the R8,000 winner’s purse open to the remaining local contenders.
Entries are open, with two options to enter. The first is online at www.sparwomensrace.co.za where you can either pay by Credit Card or by EFT. The second option is a Manual Entry at Race Registration on Friday 5 August and Saturday 6 August at The Oval cricket stadium in Alexandra Park. Companies, running clubs and groups of 10 or more can enter through the Bulk Entries option, simply email bulk@sparwomensrace.co.za for more information.
Entries to the 10km distance are open from age 14 and to the 5km from age 9, the age restrictions being applicable on the day of the competition. Entry fees are R90 for the 10km licensed athletes and for the 5km runners. The entry fee for the Non-licensed athletes is R100; the extra R10 includes a temporary licence for the day.
Once again the official race charity is CHOC (The Childhood Cancer Foundation) and R2 from every entry will be donated to them.
For more info contact the race organisers on maritzburg@sparwomensrace.co.za or visit the official race on www.sparwomensrace.co.za or like the Facebook page.
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