Johannesburg, Wednesday, 2 June 2010 – South Africa’s top athletes are set to be involved in a race against time as they strive to cash in the incentives offered, when Athletics SA teams up with the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund, to present the SA Half Marathon Championships in Port Elizabeth on Saturday, July 24, followed by the SA 10 Kilometres Championships in Paarl in the Western Cape on Saturday, August 14.

In Port Elizabeth, the national marks held by Hendrick Ramaala (1 hour and 7 secs set in Kosice, Slovakia on October 4, 1997) and Elana Meyer (1:06.44 clocked in Tokyo, Japan on January 15, 1999) each carry a R50 000 prize for the first athlete in the men’s and women’s competitions to rewrite the record books.

Based on last year’s IAAF half marathon Top 50 statistics, the first male SA athlete to dip under 1:00.20 and the first female runner from SA to clock a time faster than 1:09.37, will receive R50 000 each.

Besides these exciting incentives, the first male and female athlete in the open category to cross the finish line will collect R5000 each. The second placed male and female athlete will take home R4000 each respectively, with the bronze medallists pocketing R3500 each.

The flat one-lap course through the streets of Motherwell, in the Friendly City, is expected to be perfectly suited to fast performances.

The day’s programme will consist of 21.1km wheelchair race (07h00 start), SA Half Marathon Championships (07h15 start), 5km fun run (07h30 start). Prize giving will take place at 10h30.

In Paarl on August 14, Matthews Motshwarateu’s national record of  28.00 (set in Purchase on October 4, 1980) and Elana Meyer’s SA mark of 31.13 (clocked in Budapest, Hungary on October 14, 2001) will also carry R50 000 incentives to the first male and female athlete to set SA best performances at the SA 10 Kilometres Championships.

The race, which will start and finish outside the Dal Josafat Stadium in Paarl, will also offer R50 000 incentives to the first SA male and female athletes to dip under 28:06 and 32:14 respectively.

The first male and female athlete across the finish line in the open category will take home R3000 each, with the runners-up picking up R2000 each and the third-placed athletes R1000 each.

The progamme will start with a 10km wheelchair race at 08h00, followed by the SA 10km Championships at 08h10. A 5km fun run will take place from 08h40.

ASA Administrator Ray Mali said:“The SA Half Marathon Championships and SA 10km Championships offer our country’s top athletes the chance to clock world class times. Athletics enthusiasts like to talk about records and as ASA, we are pleased to be supported by the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund in striving to put on quality events at which our athletes can perform.”

ASA: Assistant Administrator Richard Stander added: “The additional R50 000 incentives offered have been worked on the times produced by the 50^th fastest athlete on last year’s IAAF rankings. This is a clear indication of just how fast the world standard really is and we are pleased to encourage our runners to set career best times and reach new levels in the local and international arenas.”