ROAD RUNNING
Glenrose Xaba takes the win in the 2024 SPAR Grand Prix 10km Gqeberha
Xaba ’ s Dominance Continues
Glenrose Xaba has been in scintillating form in the 2024 SPAR Grand Prix Series , and she made that form count in the fourth race in the series in Gqeberha on 21 September .
In April , Glenrose Xaba became the first South African woman to win a race in the Spar Grand Prix 10km Series since Irvette van Zyl was first over the line in the 2018 Johannesburg race . She took line honours in the Mother City in 32:17 . Then in June , the current SA Champion for the 10km distance produced another excellent performance in the second race in Durban , clocking 31:56 – just one second outside her own PB – to finish second to Ethiopian Tadu Nare , the three-time defending Gran Prix champion . minute off her PB . She is based in the USA but was back home for a few months , so decided to give the Gqeberha race a go . “ I have been training at altitude in California , and entered the SPAR race because I thought it would be fun to run at sea level . I used to run SPAR races before I went to the United States , but this is the first one I have done for some time . I had hoped to break 34 minutes , so I was very happy to nearly break 33 . I love running in my home country !” she said .
Having shattered the SA Record in early July , again in Durban , lowering the national mark to 31:12 , Xaba then added an easy victory in the Tshwane leg of the SPAR series in August , clocking 32:52 to win by exactly two minutes from Nare . This marked the first time Xaba had been able to beat Nare , but more was to come . In the recent SPAR Grand Prix in Gqeberha , Xaba won her third race of the 2024 series in a blistering 31:22 , the secondfastest time ever by a South African on SA soil , and fifth on the all-time SA performance list .
Running in almost perfect conditions on a cool Gqeberha morning , Xaba surged away rom the 5200-strong field right from the start , taking Nare and Ethiopian junior Diniya Abaraya with her , and by the 3km mark , they were almost half a kilometre ahead of the rest of the pack . Xaba then broke away at about 7.5km , leaving the two Ethiopians running together . “ I had a very good race ,” said a smiling Xaba . “ Tadu , Diniya and I pushed hard from the start . I planned to lead from the start , and I was aiming for a sub-32 time . I was hoping to break my national record of 31:12 , but I am very happy with my race .”
Abaraya eventually took second place in a personal best 31:33 – the world ’ s 13th-fastest time by a junior – having outlasted a somewhat tired-looking Nare ( 31:48 ), who won R1 million in the Mpumalanga Marathon just one week earlier . Carina Viljoen , better known as a 1500m track runner , surprised everyone when she powered
34 ISSUE 173 | www . modernathlete . co . za into fourth place in 33:10 , taking more than a
Xaba broke away from Tadu Nare and Diniya Abaraya at the 7.5km mark
GO-GETTERS IN GQEBERHA
These are the top results from the SPAR Women ’ s 10km Challenge Gqeberha , held at Pollok Beach on Saturday 21 September .
SENIOR |
1 Glenrose Xaba ( Boxer ) |
31:22 |
2 Diniya Abaraya ( Nedbank / Ethiopia ) |
31:33 |
3 Tadu Nare ( Nedbank / Ethiopia ) |
31:48 |
4 Carina Viljoen ( Rand ) |
33:10 |
5 Karabo Mailula ( Tuks ) |
33:20 |
6 Blandina Makatisi ( Maxed Elite / Lesotho ) 33:27 |
7 Cacisile Sosibo ( Boxer ) |
33:34 |
8 Lebo Phalula-Mzazi ( Boxer ) |
34:24 |
9 Malineo Mahloko ( Maxed Elite / Lesotho ) 34:55 |
10 Lebogang Phalula-Luthuli ( Boxer ) |
35:12 |
JUNIOR |
1 Diniya Abaraya ( Nedbank / Ethiopia ) |
31:33 |
2 Abbie Mitchell ( School ) |
49:23 |
3 Akhona Zake ( Chillie ) |
53:09 |
40-49 |
1 Lebo Phalula-Mzazi ( Boxer ) |
34:24 |
2 Lebogang Phalula-Luthuli ( Boxer ) |
35:12 |
3 Ntombesintu Mfunzi ( Nedbank ) |
38:56 |
50-59 |
1 Elizabeth Potter ( Boxer ) |
40:05 |
2 Janene Carey ( Boxer ) |
42:24 |
3 Michelle Howes ( Ikhamva ) |
42:30 |
60-69 |
1 Judy Bird ( Boxer ) |
41:42 |
2 Grace de Oliviera ( Maxed Elite ) |
43:39 |
3 Christine Claasen ( Nedbank ) |
45:33 |
70-PLUS |
1 Jos Els ( Madiba ) |
1:04:15 |
2 Helene Oppel ( Eliteac ) |
1:11:56 |
3 Jeanette Pienaar ( Run4C ) |
1:15:18 |
Images : Micheal Sheehan / Gallo Images