With her fourth consecutive win in the 2023 SPAR Grand Prix Series in Tshwane, two-time defending series champion Tadu Nare of Ethiopia wrapped up her third series win in a row. Meanwhile, the Tshwane leg of SPAR Women’s Challenge made a welcome return after its COVID-enforced hiatus, and thousands of women took to the roads for either a 10km or 5km outing.
When they talk about a scenic race with a stunning view, they normally don’t mean running straight up a skyscraper, but if it’s a view you’re after, then the Ponte Challenge is well worth the climb. It may not be specifically running-related, but it is an interesting fitness challenge, and in a quite iconic location in Joburg, for good measure. – By Juliana Ambrosi with Sean Falconer
They say that if at first you don’t succeed, try and try again until you do. Well, Eugene Lekay must have that advice imprinted on his psyche, because the man who has started the Comrades Marathon 21 times in the last 25 years finally earned his 10th medal in 2023 and claimed his Comrades race number 17696 in perpetuity. This is his story of a quarter of a century journey to a Green Number, with numerous challenges along the way, but also a testament to one runner’s determination to achieve his goal. – By Sean Falconer
The 2023 World Athletics Championships took place in Budapest, Hungary in the last week of August, and what an incredible meet it turned out to be! We saw nine days of World Records, Championship Records, Area Records, National Records, season bests and personal bests, watched enthralling competitions and incredible moments of sporting camaraderie, and basked in what was one of the best World Champs meets of all time. (OK, it wasn’t so good from a South African perspective, but that aside, it was a great meet.) Modern Athlete had two reporters at the event, courtesy of PUMA South Africa, doing daily coverage and interviews, and now it’s time for a look back at some of the highlights of wonderful week of athletics action. – By Sean Falconer & World Athletics
With two more wins in the 2023 SPAR Grand Prix Series in Durban and Mbombela, two-time defending series champion Tadu Nare is well on course to make it three series wins in a row.
The Absa RUN YOUR CITY DURBAN 10K has already produced the fastest time ever run on South African soil, and this year’s frontrunners delivered another scintillating race. – By Sean Falconer and Jacky McClean
Just four years ago, Miranda Coetzee could never have wrapped her head around the fact that she’d be an international track athlete.
It was only in 2019 that the former netballer decided to take athletics seriously and started training in earnest. Since then, Coetzee has been lowering her personal best times with regularity and is now on the cusp of competing at her second World Athletics Championships.
“To be honest, I never thought that I would make the national team or I would be going to world champs and all that, so I’m very happy with where I am right now,” she admitted.
The PUMA athlete made a statement earlier this year by claiming a 200-400m double at the South African Championships in Potchefstroom – both in personal best times. Since then she’s dipped under the 51-second mark over 400m for the first time this June in Spain. The 25-year-old reckons racing in Europe over the last few months has been an excellent learning experience.
“One thing that I never did before was analysing my races, so having a lot of races in Europe actually helps you see the mistakes that you made in previous races and you’re able to correct them in the next race,” she explained.
“Also being able to compete with people that I will be competing with at world champs gave me a heads up to see where I am. I’m also happy that my times improved a lot.”
Coetzee made her World Championships debut in Oregon last year where she finished 41st overall in the 400m heats after running a time of 53.30. She’ll certainly be looking to improve on that when this year’s championships kick off on Saturday in Budapest.
“Last year I was actually new to everything so everything was a learning experience for me. I was a bit scared, and I wasn’t strong mentally. I’ve learnt to be strong and take each race or competition as it comes, I believe in myself more than I did last year, so I really hope I make a difference this year.”
The World Athletics Championships take place in Budapest from 19-27 August with the women’s 400m heats set to be contested on Sunday morning.
Putting On Cloud’s new Cloudsurfer to the test proved a most enjoyable experience, as these shoes lived up to their name, making me feel like I was running on clouds. – By Richard Laskey
The Kayano, Nimbus and Cumulus have been best-sellers on the SA market for nearly three decades. Now ASICS has set out to reinvent not just these shoes, but established shoe design. – by Sean Falconer
Being entrusted with the job of keeping two novice Comrades runners hydrated and motivated resulted in an epic day and a chance to experience the race in a completely different way. – By Catherine Dixon (with Janine Nortje)