Preparing for her debut marathon later this year, Nare was a runaway victor in Tshwane last Friday in her slowest time of the series so far. Her time of 32:56 was still a fast time for the tough 3 looped course at altitude. 

“I was quite tired running in Tshwane because I did a 35km long run preparing for my marathon and I could still feel it in my legs on the race,” said Nare. “I am not aiming to run a fast time this weekend and just aim to win again because the course is at altitude and it will be hilly.”

In Nare’s second victory in the Cape Town leg of the series, the young Ethiopian ran a time of 31:28 which is the sixth fastest time ever run on South African soil. “My aim for the final in Gqeberha will be to run a very fast time. I would like to aim for under 31 minutes on the day and that will make me happy.”

Joining her will be a host of Nedbank RC athletes such as Irvette Van Zyl, Stella Marais and Patience Murowe. Van Zyl ran a very impressive run last week in Tshwane finishing 4th. It was her first race since injury derailed her Olympic Marathon. “It was great to be back on the road,” said Van Zyl. “What happened at the Olympics really took time to get over because I was honestly in the best shape of my life.” 

Both Marais and Murowe have been to all 4 Spar Grand Prix’s so far and have top 10 finishes in all. This will be the aim for both runners this weekend in Johannesburg. 

The Nedbank running club wishes it’s athletes all the best for this weekend’s event