Renowned here for her dominance in the 10km Spar Grand Prix Series, Ethiopian Tadu Nare will participate in the iconic Women’s Month Totalsport Women’s Race for the first time when she lines up for the Cape Town leg of this year’s edition.
Nare has confirmed her participation in the race set to take place in the Mother City on National Women’s Day, August 9, and will no doubt line up as favourite to win what would be the second event of the three-race women’s running extravaganza. Durban hosts the opening race on August 4 while the Johannesburg race is scheduled for the 17th.
Nare boasts an impressive 10km Personal Best (PB) time of 31:13 and should be the fastest of all the competitors on a pretty strong start list. Her compatriot and teammate at the Nedbank Running Club Diniya Kedir Abaraya will also be racing.
The Nedbank Runniing Club athlete is excited about her impending debut in the race that supports Piink Drive — the non-governmental organisation dedicated to creating and promoting awareness about cancer in South Africa.
“I’m looking forward to making my Totalsports Women’s Race debut in Cape Town on August 9 and invite all women to join me. It’s wonderful that the race honours women as they are the cornerstone of families and communities. I like that it’s a women’s only race as we get to push hard at the front of the race. It builds confidence.”
Nare says she chose the Mother City race because ‘I personally like to run fast, flat races. More importantly I like to represent my club, Nedbank, as they are a great team. Through my performance I want to show that our team is the best in South Africa and the world. My goal on race day is to run my best.”
Though she mostly runs 10km races in South Africa, the Ehtiopian is a versatile and pretty competitive athlete in the longer distances too.
She boasts an impressive list of accolades which includes victory in the Nelson Mandela Bay Half Marathon this year. Snare won the Barcelona Marathon ion debut three years ago and was victorious at both the Copenhagen Half Marathon and the Valencia Marathon in 2022.
Meanwhile Abraya, who boasts a 32:03 PB in the 10km which she ran at the Absa Run Your City Durban 10K last year, will participate in all three races.
The Ethiopian has already competed in numerous races locally this year as she finished runner up at the 10km SPAR Women’s Grand Prix Series in Cape Town in March, came in at 9th at the Absa Run Your City Gqeberha 10K in April and then fulfilled the bridesmaid’s role again at the Mandela Bay Half Marathon in June.
She has her sights set on improving her 10km PB and no doubt her best chance will be at the coastal races in Durban and Cape Town. She will also run what should be the toughest of the three races in Johannesburg.
IOL Sport