Spar Ladies’ 10km Challenge (CGA)

October is one of the most beautiful months in Johannesburg. The trees have their new soft green leaves, gardens are a wealth of colour and some of the city’s thousands of jacarandas are beginning to show tinges of the glorious blue that will soon dominate the scenery. So it is a wonderful time to take to the streets and enjoy the warmer weather and the lovely surroundings.

 The SPAR Women’s Challenge takes place at Old Parktonians in Randburg on Sunday October 9 and the schools with the most entries will win Mecer laptops with Win7 Professional software. The top school will also receive a Brother  colour print, copy, scan and fax printer. The school with the second highest number of entries will receive a laptop and a mono print, copy, scan and fax printer, and third placed school will also receive prizes.

 No school has enough computers – they are such a crucial part of modern education and winning one could not be easier. Entries must all be submitted together and entries for the schools competition need to be in before September 24.

 Girls taking part in the 10km Challenge need to be 15 or over, but the 5km Fun Run is available to girls over nine, which means primary schools also stand a chance of winning these wonderful prizes. 

 Although some girls will be eager to run, walkers are also welcome in both competitions.  Many girls will welcome this as an opportunity to chat to their friends and catch up with the gossip. Schools could add to the fun by running an internal competition to see which class or house has the most entries.

 In addition to helping their school stand a chance of winning a computer, and having a fun day out when Johannesburg is looking its best, the entrants will also have the satisfaction of knowing that they are doing their bit for a very important charity.

The SPAR Women’s 10km Challenge coincides with Breast Cancer month, and a portion of proceeds from the race go to Reach for Recovery, a support group for women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. The Reach for Recovery volunteers have all had their own encounters with the disease, and so they are in a perfect position to talk to and counsel women who have just heard those ominous words “you have breast cancer.”

 Although some of South Africa’s top athletes, like Irvette van Blerk, Rene Kalmer, Zintle Xiniwe, Annerien van Schalkwyk, Ntombesintu Mfunzi and Catherine Skosana will be vying for top spot, the race is really all about the thousands of ordinary women and girls who will be taking part just for the fun of it.

 There are always wonderful lucky prizes at the SPAR Challenge, including groceries for a year in the form of vouchers worth R12 000, and R2000 worth of SPAR’s new Good Living stainless steel range of appliances. The first 10 000 pre-entries will receive a free race t-shirt, and the first 11 000 finishers will receive as medal and goodie bag.

 The Challenge is a fun day for the whole family, with a variety of food stalls, a children’s play area with jumping castles, clowns and face painting as well as live entertainment provided by Denim, who are widely regarded as South Africa’s top party band.