The inaugural Hollywoodbets Durban Summer 10km Challenge was a runaway success as some of the country’s top runners took part in the run held on Sunday, 14 November. The race started and ended at Kings Park Athletic Stadium, with a start time of 6am in the early morning.
The event saw top runners vying for the R15 000 first prize money that was on offer and Pretoria-based Collen Mulaudzi came out on top with a time of 28 minutes and 30 seconds. Right behind her was Tsepo Ramashamole with 28 minutes and 39 seconds and in third place was Nicholas Seoposongwe with a time of 28 minutes and 42 seconds. Mulaudzi said he was jubilant to have won. “I am happy that I won this race.”
He said the secret to his success at the race was that he set a fast pace during the run. “I appreciated the generous prize money that was on offer and laud Hollywoodbets for a well organised event.” The women’s contest also had some hot action as marathon runner, Zinhle Shabalala, won the race in a time of 34 minutes and 34 seconds, followed by Cacisile Sosibo with a time of 34 minutes and 34 seconds and rounded off by Blandina Makatisi with a time of 35 minutes and two seconds. Shabalala said she was very excited. “I am speechless. I don’t know what to say. Thank you so much to the organisers. Being a marathon runner I am very surprised with my win. I thank Hollywoodbets for the organisation of the event as we really needed this as runners,” she said.
Morgan Shandu, Hollywoodbets Operations Manager, said everything went according to plan and there was a lot of enthusiasm for the race. “When we first started the race, we started with 500 applications and, in the end, we saw 1 000 runners taking part. The race had a high level of competition and this was reflected in the finishing times that the some of the country’s top runners produced. Shandu said this was a way of Hollywoodbets giving back to the community, and we believe that next year’s race is going to be bigger. We hope to see 5 000 runners in 2022.”
