Kesa-Van Zyl rivarly goes on

The rivalry between road running stars Kesa Molotsane and Irvette van Zyl took another twist at the weekend in their battle for supremacy in the Spar Women's 10km Challenge.

The tables were turned when Van Zyl ran an outstanding tactical race to claim victory in SuperSport Park in Pretoria on Saturday.

Van Zyl (Nedbank) bounced back from the injury that forced her to drop out of last month's Durban Challenge to win in 34.36 minutes, 12 seconds ahead of Nolene Conrad (KPMG). Conrad's teammate Molotsane finished third at 34.53 minutes.

Van Zyl maintained the lead for most of the race, but Conrad and Molotsane were on her shoulder until about 8km when she pulled away from the pair.

Molotsane said she was recovering from an injury, but was pleased to have finished in third place. "I enjoyed the race ... it is always good to run at different times, and this is the first road race I have done in the afternoon," said Molotsane.

"I am getting used to road running instead of track running, and I am really enjoying it," said the Bloemfontein-based runner.