Johannesburg — Glenrose Xaba came to within two kilometres of ending the foreign domination of the SPAR Women’s 10km Challenges but had to be content with occupying the third spot on the podium at the Cape Town Leg of the popular Grand Prix Series on Sunday.
She led until the eight kilometre mark but had to watch as Ethiopians Hiyane Lama and Selam Gebre passed her to gain victory in 33:42 and 33:44 respectively while she clocked a 34:05.
In rainy conditions, the athletes found the going a tough and they all agreed that they could have run much faster had the weather been different.
Xaba, no doubt inspired by the lure off swelling her bank account by an extra R10 000 incentive put aside for the first South African to finish the race, raced into the lead and looked good to hold on to a rare victory by a local.
But she faded towards the end, the effects of her good running during the Cape Mile races came back to bite her, and try as she might, Xaba could not sustain her lead as the Ethiopians showed their mettle.
“I am very happy to have lead up to the 8km mark but I started feeling a bit of lactic and that’s why the Ethiopians got to catch me. I started to feel the two races that I raced in the Cape Mile towards the end because my legs were still a little bit tired. I was looking to run a little faster but hopefully I will do much better in the next races.”
Xaba intends to run all the six Spar Grand Prix Series races but her big goal for the year is to make it to the World Championships in Budapest.
“The plan is to qualify for the World Champs in the half marathon,” said the athlete who boasts the third fastest half marathon in the country.
Meanwhile, winner Lama was delighted with her victory in her maiden 10km road race, the 20-year-old having previously specialized in cross country running.
“It was a good run, even though the weather was not what I expected. It was a bit hard on me but I decided to do my best. I am happy even though my plan was to run 32 minutes – but the weather was bad and I had to warm myself up and run a reserved race and only sprinted and gave it all I had at the end.”
The legendary Elana Meyer, who won the maiden Spar race 30 years ago, shot the start gun and was delighted to see a local making the podium and called on local clubs, federations and the government to do their best to support women’s running .
“It’s fantastic to see how the race has grown from those pioneering years and to have thousands of women braving this wet weather to run is brilliant. And it is brilliant that Glenrose made the podium. I believe that the best way for us to close the gap with the internationals is to ensure that we get the young girls to run track events so that they can build up their speed for the road.”
The next race on the Grand Prix Series will take place in Gqeberha on May 27.
IOL Sport