Glenrose Xaba produced yet another splendid run to win the season-opening race of the SPAR Grand Prix Series as she looks for a third title in the country’s most popular women’s 10km challenge.
The Boxer Athletic Club star won the Cape Town SPAR Women’s 10km Challenge in Greenpoint in an impressive time of 33:13, some five seconds ahead of Ethiopia’s Selam Gebre whose resistance she broke with about 800m to go. Xaba’s training partner Karabo Mailula completed the podium standings in 33:33, the duo leaving their coach and mentor Caster Semenya delighted.
The 800m legend also ran the race and finished in 36 minutes and revealed afterwards that she is looking to slice off at least two minutes so she could start completing the distance in 34 minutes.
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“The race was a little bit tight but it was a great race and I can’t complain much. I am still learning how to learn the road (Semenya having run on the track all her career). But I am happy with a 36 and I am hoping to get to the 34s,” Semenya said in a post-race interview.
“It is great to be able to mentor women like Glenrose Xaba and as a mentor and coach. I am fulfilled to see her winning. She’s a phenomenal hard worker, lots of discipline and very talented.”
That talent was evident on the road this morning as Xaba led from the onset until the finish in a compelling negative splits run which saw her run the first half of the race in 17:11 and the second in a pretty fast 15:58.
She ran the initial three kilometers with Gebre and her compatriot Meseret Fita with the Ethiopians looking like they had a race plan to beat the defending Series champion. Nedbank Athletic Club manager Nick Bester had instructed her athletes to stay on Xaba’s shoulder, a ploy that they followed for a while.
And Glenrose Xaba (Boxer) defends her #SPARGrandPrix #CapeTown title winning in 33.13 #Twenty20thrive pic.twitter.com/IXUkvwzzgo
— SPAR Grand Prix (@SPARGrandPrix) March 30, 2025
But Xaba is a fantastic athlete and when she surged explosively, Fita was dropped. At that same time, the inimitable Lebo Phalula joined the lead group – the 41 year old making a fartleks that belied her age. But she was dropped at the six kilometer mark, although that burst helped her as she finished fifth overall in a time of 34:14 to win the veteran’s category. Her Boxer clubmate Cacisile Sosibo was fourth in 33:35.
The story of the morning though was Xaba who made a victorious start to the defence of her SPAR Grand Prix Series title as she seeks to win a third one having also reigned supreme back in 2018. Should she succeed, she will join Rene Kalmer, Irvette Van Zyl and Tadu Nare as a three time champion.
Four more SPAR 10km Challenges are to be held as the athletes chase after the Grand Prix points. Next up the race will be in Durban on June 22 then Tshwane will host on August 2, Gqeberha on September 2 and the curtain will come down on the Series on October 5 in Johannesburg.
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