Kesa yearns for more after Grand Prix exploits
Molotsane biggest winner at awards
Kesa Molotsane entered the Spar Women’s 10km Challenge races this year to boost her training for track events and ended up winning the coveted Grand Prix title in her debut year.
Molotsane was handed a cheque for R173 000 at the Grand Prix awards ceremony in Muldersdrift yesterday.
The 25-year-old became the seventh athlete to win the title, and the first to attain this feat on debut season.
She won the Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Pietermaritzburg races, finished second in Durban and Johannesburg and third in Pretoria to finish with 156 points. Her score is just 10 points ahead of her nearest rival Irvette van Zyl, who on Sunday was crowned the new Soweto Marathon queen.
She had won the
Spar races in Pretoria and Johannesburg, came second in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth and third in Pietermaritzburg.
The battle for top spot would have been even closer had Van Zyl not been forced to drop out in Durban because of an injury.
Molotsane gained bonus points for finishing within the target times set by the organisers in every race except Durban and Johannesburg, while Van
Zyl earned bonus points in every race she finished.
Van Zyl, won R50 000 for finishing second, while Nolene Conrad – who finished every race in the top 10 – came joint third with Mapaseka Makhanya with 67 points each. They each received R27 500.
“I planned to run just one or two, but then I realised I had a chance of winning the Grand Prix, so I carried on. I will definitely be running the Spar races again next year,” said Molotsane at an event also attended by deputy sports minister Gert Oosthuizen.