DURBAN - Dressed in the blue of her running club, Kesa Molotsane raced to the finish line to win the fifth leg of the Spar Women’s 10km Challenge in Pietermaritzburg on Sunday.
The KMPG athlete clocked 34:21, with Ruthendo Nyahora 13 seconds behind and Irvette van Zyl third in 34:37
“The race was really nice for me. I love hills. I come from a hilly place. My body responded well unlike at the Pretoria race. Everything worked well," said Molotsane, who hails from the Free State.
Van Zyl started strongly with a solo run from two kilometres but it wasn’t for long before other runners caught her.
“I wanted to try my best, because I’m in a difficult space. I’m behind with points on the Grand Prix," said Van Zyl
“I wanted to run a bonus point and my plan worked, but unfortunately I finished third," said the reigning Grand Prix champion.
Zimbabwean Nyahora said she felt like giving up at halfway through the race but she told herself to keep going on.
“The race was fine. I felt like my race was done, but I told myself that two weeks ago I was doing a 42 km and this is a 10km, so I pulled my socks up because I had 6kms to go”, said Nyahora
“My aim was to finish in the top three because I missed the Pretoria leg,” said Nyahora, who ran 2:42:53 in the marathon at the recent World Championships.
Congratulations to Kesa Molotsane on her 3rd win! With Rotendo in second place and @irv87 following not far behind. pic.twitter.com/p53LISCblE
— SPAR Grand Prix (@SPARGrandPrix) August 20, 2017
Molotsane was supposed to be in Taipei with the South African team for the Student Games, but had to ask for special permission so that she could take part in yesterday’s race.
“I used this race as a test because I had to see how far am I with my fitness. I think it’s going to motivate me to work hard because I am the only South African in the 5 000m. I really need to prove myself that I deserve to be on the team and make my country proud”, said the 25-year-old Molotsane.
“Being here is actually a blessing that I could test myself before I joined the rest of the team."