On Saturday, 21 March the 27th edition of the event will be held and it expects to see thousands of women attend the 10km and 5km races. According to the team behind the event, the initiative has become extremely popular among social runners and professional competitors alike.

Grand Prix Series co-ordinator Ian Laxton says, "The first race was held in Durban in 1990." Laxton has been involved with the events since their inception. "We began to extend it around the country but when we came to Port Elizabeth in 1993, we were told the idea wouldn't work. But the next year, we were determined to make it happen, so we went ahead and the race has become a very special part of the calendar."

The Walmer Athletics Club, under the chairmanship of Loynes Jenkerson, took up the task of race organisers, beginning with just 274 runners in the 10km event. From here, Laxton says that the races "just took off" as thousands of runners began to line up at the start.

"There was year-on-year growth and during that period, we became much better in terms of organising the events. Furthermore, we had really good media partners who promoted the events through their platforms," says Laxton. 

"We also decided to decentralise the organisation of the events. So this was never done at a national level, but left to the regional SPAR distribution centres to organise. This was one of the best things we did because the DCs became very involved in the races, which just continued to grow," he says. 

"Things went ballistic around the year 2000 and the Port Elizabeth race peaked at 14 000 runners. It's not quite as big now, but remains a very important part of the series." Laxton says that the race had been moved from Kings Beach to the current Summerstrand venue to accommodate all the entrants.

"That was an out and back course along the beachfront and, of course, good results were very dependent on the weather and the wind," he says. "The idea for the series was two-fold — to create an opportunity for elite runners to showcase their talents, while encouraging SPAR's lady customers to enjoy some exercise and female camaraderie," says Laxton.

According to the team, this led to initiatives such as the 5km distance being introduced in 2005, which created an opportunity for a new wave of participants. In addition, SPAR EC introduced the concept of having race beneficiaries and funds raised over the years to assist local charity organisations.

The first Port Elizabeth champion was Elana Meyer, who had won a 10 000m silver medal at the 1992 Barcelona Games and, according to Laxton, the series had been critical to the development of South Africa's top female runners.

"You can ask any of our leading competitors — the Rene Kalmers, the Irvette van Zyls — and they will tell you how important the SPAR races have been for them," Laxton adds. "The races are well organised, the courses are generally fast and there are good incentives."

In 2007, Laxton was instrumental in introducing the Grand Prix Series which, he felt, had taken the competitive edge to another level. "There has been huge support from the professional clubs for this and the incentives on offer have attracted many top runners — not only in South Africa but from further afield as well."

This was demonstrated last year when Namibian Helalia Johannes competed and set new records in each of the six races. "Importantly, there is TV coverage of all six events on SABC," concludes Laxton.

For more information, visit www.spar.co.za. You can also follow SPAR on Facebook, Twitter or on Instagram.