ROAD RUNNING
Sea of Red Engulfs Jozi
The Absa RUN YOUR CITY JOBURG 10K delivered a thrilling finale to the five-race 2024 Absa RUN YOUR CITY Series , including two new course records , and a sea of red . – BY JACKY McCLEAN and SEAN FALCONER
Most days of the year , the M1 and M2 elevated highways in Joburg are filled with speeding cars , buses and trucks , and are very much a no-go zone for pedestrians , let alone runners , but on Heritage Day – the annual public holiday on 24 September – that all changes . That ’ s when the Absa RUN YOUR CITY JOBURG 10K allows a huge number of runners and walkers to enjoy the incredible views over the city from this elevated roadway , as they literally paint the streets of the inner city red in their Absa red race tees .
With over 10,000 entries , the 2024 edition of the race was the biggest yet , to go with bigger , faster fields in the other four events in the Series in Gqeberha , Cape Town , Durban and Tshwane , and this made the Jozi race a fitting finale to what has been an incredibly successful 2024 series . And with the elites also arriving hungry to tackle the course and chase down the healthy prize money and financial incentives on offer , it proved a great day for racing .
Dominant Performance
Glenrose Xaba continued her superlative form in the 2024 Absa RUN YOUR CITY Series as she comfortably won the women ’ s title in the Joburg race in course record 31:55 . This shattered the previous women ’ s best for this race , the 33:03 run by Ethiopian Debash Desta in 2023 , and gave Xaba her fifth sub-32 time of the year – and it came just three days after she won the SPAR Grand Prix 10km in Gqeberha in 31:22 .
In July , Xaba set a new SA Record of 31:12 at the Absa RUN YOUR CITY DURBAN 10K , and in August she won the Absa RUN YOUR CITY TSHWANE 10K in 31:51 which is the fastest time ever run by a South African woman at altitude . In Joburg , SuperCharger ( as Xaba is affectionately known ) produced a runaway victory to claim R60,000 incentive for breaking the 32-minute barrier , and such was the current SA 5000m , 10,000m , 10km and half marathon champion ’ s dominance that she won by over two minutes from Lesotho ’ s Blandina Makatisi ( 34:03 ) and Karabo Mailula ( 34:14 ).
“ I ’ m very happy that I managed to win this race , as that was my aim after I obtained second place here in 2022 . The race was so difficult because the route was tough , the wind was so very strong , and the competition was very good , because we had Balndina , who is an Olympian , and Karabo Mailula , my training partner . I appreciate being able to race all the ladies who are doing so well ,” says a very happy Xaba .
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ISSUE 173 | www . modernathlete . co . za
Glenrose Xaba takes the women ’ s title Gideon Kipngetich took the men ’ s title