Glenrose Xaba continued her dominance of the SPAR Women’s Challenge 10km with yet another compelling victory in the Gqeberha leg on Saturday morning
The Boxer Athletic Club runner clocked a fast 31:57 to breast the finish tape first ahead of surprise package Tyala Kavanagh (32:01) of Hollywood Athletics Club. Ethiopia's Diniya Abaraya, running in the green colours of Nedbank Running Club, completed the podium positions in 32:04.
Xaba has now won all the four races in the 2025 Grand Prix Series to hold on to her title with one more race – next weekend’s Johannesburg leg - to spare as she enjoys an unassailable 115 points. She becomes the first black athlete to win the SPAR Grand Prix three times having also reigned victorious back in 2018. Xaba adds her name on that stellar list which includes her compatriots Rene Kalmer, Irvette Van Zyl as well as Namibia’s Helalia Johannes and Tadu Nare of Ethiopia.
On a morning perfect for good running in the Windy City, Xaba lived up to her billing as favourite by starting on the front foot and looking fresh after opting to skip Wednesday’s Absa RUN YOUR CITY Joburg 10K.
Her usual nemesis Selam Gebre and her compatriot Diniya Abaraya stuck with her in the initial stage and history suggested the former would be her main competition. For a while it looked like the podium positions were decided as the trio enjoyed the lead. But having recently competed at the Buenos Aires Marathon where she finished in fourth place, Gebre struggled to keep up as Xaba injected the pace.
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.
Kavanagh dug deep to sneak into second spot ahead of Abaraya.
Speaking at the post-race media conference, Xaba’s delight at having sealed, yet another Grand Prix title knew no bounds – particularly given that she was not feeling well.
“I was not 100 per cent. My body was not responding well,” she said “The course was very fast. Last year I ran a course record. Today I did 31 high because my body was not responding well. I tried my best to push my pace, but I could not push much. But I told myself, ‘Let me keep the pace’ and then in the last three kilometres I said, 'let me give myself a push'.”
And push she did to register a victory that will see her swelling her bank balance by a cool R200 000 for winning the overall Grand Prix prize.
The Gqeberha SPAR Women’s Challenge was a sell-out 5000 runners with one lucky entrant Nomandla Lunguza of Kariega, Uitenhage drawn to win a Hyundai EXTER. SPAR in partnership with Hyundai have given away five Hyundai EXTER vehicles this season.
The final let of the SPAR Grand Prix will take place on Sunday morning, 05 October 2025 at marks Park Sporting Club in Emmerentia, Johannesburg.
