It was a dominating performance as Nedbank running club Ethiopia’s Tadu Nare clinched victory in fine style at the opening leg of the Spar Grand Prix series 10km in Pietermaritzburg on Sunday.
The 20-year-old who has had previous success in the series when it was last run lived up to her pre-race favorite tag after pulling away just after 3km towards a convincing victory, crossing the line in 32:22. Her time saw her win by over a minute on second placed finisher Glenrose Xaba, with Tayla Kavanagh 3rd.
Speaking through an interpreter on the stage through the mobile phone of Nedbank running club National team manager Nick Bester, Nare felt she could have gone even quicker. “I was ready to run much faster today but it was a pity that some of the other quicker ladies were here,” said Nare, referring to Nedbank RC teammates Helalia Johannes and Irvette Van Zyl who were recovering from the recent Tokyo Olympic Games Marathon. Johannes is the defending series champion and will look to be back in action soon whilst Van Zyl is recovering from an injury. Nare also added that the route was challenging with the long hill and steep downhill in the 3,3km lap.
Tadu will be using the Spar 10km races as speed training to get her in top form for her first marathon in November in Barcelona.
Nedbank RC athletes Patience Murowe and Stella Marais also recorded finishes in the top 10 finishing 8th and 10th respectively. The series now moves to Cape Town and Nare who is preparing for her first marathon later this year is already talking about going faster. “In Cape Town the course will be much flatter than what we ran on today so I will push for a time of under 32:00.”
Nare has a good racing history in South Africa, first appearing in 2018 as a young 17-year-old junior and her career has blossomed since. Earlier this year the tiny Ethiopian recorded a new personal best of 1:09:09 over the half marathon distance in Gqeberha where she finished 3rd in a highly competitive international field that descended on the SA Half Marathon championships.
The 5 remaining Spar Grand Prix races are:
Cape Town – 4 September
Durban – 11 September
Tshwane – 24 September
Johannesburg – 3 October
Gqeberha – 9 October