Imagine taking on the best in the country and not only beating them, but destroying them less than 4 months after giving birth? Well this is what 31-year-old Irvette van Zyl did at the Spar Ladies Final on 7 October. Irvette (who later also be first South African at the FNB Durban 10km CITYSURFRUN) is clearly loving her running again and seems to be even stronger than before the birth of her second son on 9 June. At the Spar Ladies Final, Irvette flew to a 34:07 win for the 10km race which traversed the hilly terrain around of Emmarentia. No mean feat.
Irvette had been running in the Spar Series in February and March, while pregnant. Upon the birth of Gideon on 9 June, Irvette returned to racing on 4 August where she finished 4th at the Pretoria Spar Ladies race in 34:56 – this a mere 56 days after having delivered Gideon! From there she simply started to dominate – 1st Spar Pietermaritzburg, 19 August (34:26), 1st Cape Town Peace Run, 23 September (32:49, then her second best ever performance), 1st FNB Johannesburg, 24 September (33:52), 1st Spar Final Johannesburg, 7 October (34:07) and 3rd and 1st South African, FNB Durban 10km (32:06).
Pretty impressive racing. Her 32:06 is the third fastest time ever by a South African, only Elana Meyer (31:13) and Colleen de Reuck (31:29) have ever gone faster.