After experiencing their first road race of the year since the lockdown at the Central Gauteng Athletics (CGA) 21km provincial championships in April, the Phalula twins – Lebo and Lebogang – cannot wait to hit the road again.

The Phalula sisters are now excited ahead of the Spar Women's 10km Challenge in Durban on Saturday at 7am.

All eyes will be on the two sisters in the first of the six Grand Prix Series meetings in KwaZulu-Natal. Last year they attended a marathon training camp in Kenya with the hope of qualifying for the Olympics. 

However, they returned home due to the lockdown in the country.

“We trained hard with the Kenyans for the Olympics and then there was the first lockdown and we came home running. The postponement and the lockdown killed our Olympic excitement. We then decided to focus on the local races after the time we invested in the camp,” explained Lebo.

Lebogang said she hopes to do well in the series and she is eying the first one to make a statement. “I attended the launch and I thought to myself, 'this could be an opportunity to achieve something'. Last year we wanted it, but it did not take place due to the pandemic. This is our chance to race and push for good times,” she told Sowetan.

Halelia Johannes of Namibia won the series in 2019 when she won all six races. However, this year the Phalula twins, Irvette van Zyl, Mapaseka Makhanya, Kesa Molotsane and Glenrose Xaba are ready to give her a run for the money.“It is a new series and a different year. We will give it our best shot,” added Lebo.