Glenrose Xaba wins the Spar Women's Challenge 10km Gqeberha
Glenrose Xaba dominated the Spar Women’s Challenge 10km Gqeberha, securing her fourth win in the Spar Grand Prix Series and positioning herself to become the first black athlete to win the series three times. Picture: Michael Sheehan
Image: Michael Sheehan
Glenrose Xaba cemented her status as South Africa’s queen of the 10km with yet another compellingly good run to win the Gqeberha leg of the Spar Women’s Challenge 10km Saturday morning.
The Boxer Athletic Club starlet has now won all four of the five races in the Spar Grand Prix Series and need only pitch up at the final leg in Johannesburg next Sunday (October 5) to capture the overall title.
In doing so, the lass from Mpumalanga will become the first black athlete to win the popular series three times and will join fellow South Africans Rene Kalmer and Irvertte Van Zyl on that illustrious list. Namibian Helalia Johannes and Ethiopia’s Tadu Nare have also been crowned champions on three occasions.
Xaba’s victory on Saturday was never really in doubt, her decision to skip Wednesday’s Absa RUN YOUR CITY Joburg 10K talking to her serious intentions of reigning supreme in the Windy City.
Dominant Performance by ‘SuperCharge’ Secures Victory in Thrilling Race
And reign she did, the pocket-sized athlete taking the race by the scruff of its neck from the onset and dictating the pace.
Expectedly, it was the Ethiopians - her nemesis Selam Gebre and her compatriot Diniya Abraya - who stuck with her as the second bunch struggled to keep up with the pace. History suggested Gebre would be the one to give her a challenge but with the Ethiopian having just run a marathon a few days ago that was not the case.
For a while it looked like the podium positions were decided as the trio enjoyed the lead. But then local girl Taylor Kavanagh caught up; Gebre got dropped and Abraya appeared to be Xaba’s main threat.
Resplendent in what is now becoming her trademark white cap, the athlete nicknamed SuperCharge injected some pace into her run and that was all she wrote – the race was over as a contest, at least for the first spot.
She clocked yet another sub-32 minutes run, breasting the finish tape in 31:57, four seconds ahead of surprise runner-up Kavanagh of Hollywood Athletics Club. Abraya, who runs in the green of Nedbank Running Club, completed the podium spots with a 32:04.
Young Karabo Mailula did well to secure fourth spot, fresh from her victory in the Absa RUN YOUR CITY JOBURG on Wednesday.