The Mbombela leg of the SPAR Women’s Challenge has grown from humble beginnings to one of the most enjoyed races in Mpumalanga that is inclusive of runners and walkers.

Mbombela originally started its participation in the SPAR Women’s Challenge through the SPAR Women’s Virtual Challenge in 2020, offering runners the opportunity to look past all the challenges they have faced and be able to uniquely spend some quality time with family and friends in the virtual space. From there, Lowveld continued its new tradition of the virtual challenge until they managed to break out to a physical race that invited all female runners to join us for an extraordinary race that took place in Mbombela Stadium for over 2 years which also included the SPAR Grand Prix Series starting at Mbombela Stadium, looping back along a 5km and 10km route.

The SPAR Lowveld Women’s Challenge thus turning a new leaf of pulling away from the grand prix series to offering a platform for all types of female runners to celebrate one another, spend time with their families and to help raise awareness for gender-based violence.

Over the years the Lowveld has grown from 500 runners to 1 360 runners. The race has now also expanded its reach to Eswatini runners, which was an absolute success. We hope to capture the hearts of more female runners to make a difference in our communities.