Johannes has 150 points and is 16 points ahead of her closest rival and Nedbank Running Club teammate, Ethiopian junior Tadu Nare, who has 134 points.

Johannes said after winning the race in Tshwane that she would be focusing her attention and training on the world marathon championship in Doha, Qatar, on September 27 and would only decide then whether to run in Johannesburg.
However, if she misses the Joburg race on October 5, Nare could snatch the title away from her, if she wins the race in a record time.

The first eight runners to cross the finish line in the Maritzburg race on Sunday all beat last year’s winning time of 34.26 minutes, giving them each 10 bonus points.

The 2017 Grand Prix winner, Kesa Molotsane (Murray & Roberts) is in third position with 107 points.  She has finished third, sixth, seventh, eighth and fourth in the five races so far, earning bonus points in three races.  Triple Grand Prix winner Irvette van Zyl (Nedbank) is five points behind her, with 102 points.  Van Zyl has finished fifth, seventh, third and seventh, earning bonus points in each race.  Van Zyl missed the Tshwane race because she was still recovering from surgery to repair nerve damage in her left leg, but stormed back in Maritzburg, despite it being only seven weeks since the operation.

Last year’s Grand Prix winner, Glenrose Xaba (Boxer), who was plagued by injury earlier in the year, but appears to be fully fit now, is in seventh position on the log, with 82 points.  She was ninth in Port Elizabeth, 12th in Port Elizabeth, fourth in Durban, fifth in Tshwane and third in Maritzburg, where she earned her first bonus points of the year.
The winner of the SPAR Grand Prix will take home a whopping R185 000.  The runner-up pockets R65 000 and the third-placed runner will receive R40 000.  The top 15 on the SPAR Grand Prix ladder all receive cash prizes.
The coordinator of the SPAR Grand Prix, Ian Laxton, says the introduction of foreign runner has raised the standard of running in South Africa.

“Runners like Johannes and Nade are forcing our local runners to run faster. It is noticeable that in all races except Tshwane, more than one runner earned bonus points,” said Laxton.

“The competition for points is fierce and it is now very difficult for a runner to miss a race.  Irvette (van Zyl) is doing so well because she earned bonus points in all the races she has run in, so although she missed a race she is still right up there.”

Nare is comfortably in the lead in the junior category of the SPAR Grand Prix, with 30 points from the three races run so far.   Bulelwa Simae

(Boxer) tops the 40-49 division, with 33 points, former Comrades Marathon gold medallist Grace de Oliviera (Murray & Roberts) is in the lead in the 50-59 category, with 34 points and Olga Howard (Nedbank) is set to win the 60+ category – she has 43 points and is 28 points ahead of her nearest rival.

Nedbank Running Club dominates the club combination, with 667 points,  Boxer have 249 points and Murray & Roberts 209.