Glenrose Xaba collects another Spar 10km title

As expected, Glenrose Xaba won the Spar Women’s 10km Challenge race in Durban on Sunday in 31min 54sec to continue her remarkable run of recent form.

This is the third 10km win in succession this season for Xaba, who crossed the line ahead of Ethiopians Diniya Abaraya (32:09) and Selam Gebre (32:25).

Neheng Khatala (32:31) and Tayla Kavanagh (32:32) completed the top five of the race that was run in cold and windy conditions and ended at Kings Park Stadium.

Reacting to her race, Xaba said she was happy with her time.

“My race was OK. My plan from the beginning was to go with them for about 4km because the past four weeks I was racing internationally and never got enough time to recover.

“Having said that, I am happy with my time and also the fact this is my first Spar Ladies win here in Durban. In the past, I always came in position two [and] three or in the top 10.”

Xaba said the cold weather did not affect on her. “The wind that we faced was a bit strong and it was cold out there but the race was good because we managed to give the people a good race.”

Over the past few weeks, Xaba was in Europe where she gained international experience. She is also continuing her quest to qualify for the World Championships in the 5,000m and 10,000m events in Tokyo later in the year.

“My first race was 5,000m (15:04:42) in Paris and it went according to plan because I was able to get my personal best [time]. I tried to qualify for 10,000m in the Netherlands and I ran my seasonal best.

“In that race in the Netherlands, I was the one that was pushing the pace and I came in position three. It was for experience and I learnt a lot when it comes to international track and field. I hope to get more races overseas so that I can improve my times.”