Postmasburg — A healthy prize fund is awaiting the top road runners in the Great Kolomela Iron Road Race on November 16 with nearly R300 000 up for grabs across the 21km, 10km and 5km races.
The trip to Postmasburg could be worthwhile for some of the country’s elite male and female athletes as they stand to collect some healthy prizes from the Northern Cape race with R20 000 being awarded to both the first man and woman across the line for the half-marathon distance.
Second and third in both gender categories are worth R10 000 and R5 000 respectively. The 10km and 5km winners will earn R10 000 and R5 000 while all age categories from junior up to the 80-plus class will all received cash prizes for first to third in both men and women in all three races. There is also prizemoney for race walkers.
Athletes will have to work hard for their cash however. While the area is well-known for its iron-ore mining, it is no coincidence that the Northern Cape is the site for all of South Africa’s largest solar energy projects. While the over-abundance of sunshine is good for energy generation on a large scale, it is the opposite for athletes and the big prizes will be just rewards for their efforts in the energy-sapping desert-like conditions.
All the Great Kolomela Iron Road Races start and finish at the Postmasburg Showgrounds from 6am.
Race registration on the afternoon of Saturday November 15 at the showgrounds and before the start on race day. Entry fees are R110 for the 21km, R90 for the 10km and R30 for the 5km. The R40 fee for a temporary ASA licence will apply for those who do not have licence. 5km runners must be five years or older, 10km runners must be 14 years or older, and 21 km runners must be 16 years or older.
Online entry and race details are available at http://bit.ly/kolomela.
FinishTime will time The Great Kolomela Iron Road Race. The event is sponsored by Anglo American’s Kumba Iron Ore which operates the nearby Sishen and Kolomela iron ore mines.