One last burst for runners
The second running of the XPE 15km road race in Mdantsane on Sunday has runners ready for one last 2018 burst.
It is not exactly a walk in the park. It will be a real test but the prediction of rain does at least indicate cooler conditions.
The hills and valleys of Real Gijimas' hunting ground can be seriously testing at this time of year with high humidity and serious temperatures.
Men's running has been sadly predictable, but with an expectation of runners from as far afield as Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Mthatha the race could well be livened up.
What this means is that the trio of the host club's Luthando Hejana, Bulelani Mgubo of All Stars and Old Selbornian Masixole Kalideni will come under the scrutiny of visitors, hungry to take the spoils back with them.
The women's race will still be without Easy Equities Born2Run's Hanlie Botha, but expect her to come on strong at the January races, having moved up into a new category, but still challenging up front.
Caryn Lategan and Lauren Ranger will also not be in the field, while there has been no word of Stephanie Smith's intentions.
The women's race will be anything but dour however, with the tough as teak Andrea Ranger chasing an improvement on her fourth position of last year.
Ranger will be up against the Schwulst sisters, Cindy and Tara, both of whom are also in the Born2run squad.
Cindy has not raced in a while, but is vastly experienced, while Tara won the Xerox 10km Lightening Fast in November. She has never raced over anything longer than 10km, but is said to be in great shape.
Again a few top class visitors can mix things up quite nicely and keep the spectators guessing.
Throughout the age categories competition will be tight with races going down to the wire.
Expect one big race in the men's 50+ category with the inform Desmond Zibi of Achilles AC in Port Elizabeth up again an old rival in Makaya Masumpa of Born 2 Run.