The crown of champion of the SPAR Women’s Challenge Tshwane, the fifth race in the 2025 SPAR Grand Prix, still sits firmly on the head of a local Pretoria athlete.

Glenrose Xaba of the Boxer club not only successfully defended her title as winner of the SPAR Women’s Challenge Tshwane on Saturday at the SuperSport Park Stadium in Centurion, but also proved that she currently has no equal over the 10km distance in South Africa.

Xaba crossed the finish line in 32:39, which is 0.14s faster than her winning time in the same race last year. However, she was in a tough battle with Ethiopian Diniya Abaraya (Nedbank), who kept pace with her until the end, taking second place in 32:41.

Another Ethiopian, Selam Gebre, also in the colours of Nedbank, finished third in a time of 33:17.

19-year-old Wiepke Schoeman, a former student of Hoërskool Zwartkop in Centurion, was the first junior athlete to cross the finish line in a time of 38:16.

Xaba, probably Pretoria’s biggest road racing star at the moment, is aiming to become the third South African and first black runner to win the SPAR Grand Prix Series title three times. She earned the top spot on the podium in the SPAR Grand Prix for the third time this year, after also winning in Cape Town in March and in Durban in June.

She also won her sixth South African half marathon title a week ago.

“I would like to thank my coach, Violet Raseboya, and my mentor, Caster Semenya. They help me in so many ways, keeping me injury free and working out strategies for me,” Xaba said after the race.

She thanked the Ethiopian and Kenyan runners for pushing South African runners to do better.

“They are making us competitive internationally,” said Xaba.

Xaba said she hoped her success would encourage the next generation of South African runners.

“They can see my success and believe they can succeed too,” she said.

The two Ethiopians both expressed their admiration for Xaba.

“I am amazed at how powerful she is, taking the lead from the start and staying there,” said Abaraya.

She said she had found the hilly course very challenging.

Former three times SPAR Grand Prix winner Irvette van Zyl (Hollywood) surprised everyone when she shot into the lead at the start of the race, but the four front runners dropped her at the two-kilometre mark and ran together for the next five kilometres, when Xaba surged into the lead.  She appeared to be well ahead of the two Ethiopians, but they made up lost ground and nearly caught her on the finish line. Xaba admitted later that she had been taken by surprise.

“I thought I had dropped them, so I wasn’t aware how close they were,” she said.

Van Zyl said she was very excited about the young runners who were making their mark in South African road running.

The Olympic athlete from Pretoria said that she only used the race to test the progress in her recovery process after the Comrades marathon in June, where she took sixth place in her debut and finished in 6 hours, 11 minutes. She then told the media, much to their amusement, that she actually wanted to finish sixth because her 6-year-old son had finished sixth in a cross-country event earlier in the week and was very proud of it. This sparked a family conversation and she didn’t want to do worse than her son’s sixth place.

“I am also so thrilled to see a South African winning again.  I have watched Glenrose since she started and I am so impressed by her,” said Van Zyl.

The sell-out SPAR Women’s Tshwane Challenge had 17 000 participants.

The event was held in slightly cooler weather this year than in previous years, but there was no shortage of enthusiasm and colourful merriment. Old and young, fit and less fit, as well as the traditional men who turned up in skirts and wigs for the women’s Challenge – all in good spirits and for a good cause – took over the streets of Centurion around the SuperSport Park.

What a finish! 🌟 Huge congratulations to our 5km winner, crossing the line in style and absolutely thriving! 💚 You set the pace for an incredible day at Tshwane’s most beautiful road race! 🏅#SPARWomensTshwane #Twenty20Thrive pic.twitter.com/KnXHgUWkLJ

— SPAR Women's Challenge Tshwane (@SPARWomensPta) August 2, 2025

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Full results of the SPAR Women’s 10km Challenge run at SuperSport Park on Saturday:

Open category: 1. Glenrose Xaba (Boxer) 32:39; 2. Diniya Abaraya (Nedbank0 32:41; 3. Selam Gebre (Nedbank) 33:17; 4, Debrah Cherotich (Nedbank) 33:17; 5. Karabo More (Boxer) 34:03; 6. Nicola Jansen (Boxer) 34:16; 7. Karabo Mailula (Tuks) 34:34; 8. Irvette van Zyl (Hollywood) 34:42; 9. Cacisile Sosibo (Boxer) 34:55; 10. Carina Swiggers (Boxer) 36:12

Junior category: 1. Wiepke Schoeman (Boxer) 38:16; 2. Taya Pelser (Boxer) 38:59; 3. Chanel Groenewald (Boxer) 39:45

Category 40-49: 1. Leilani Scheffer (Boxer) 39:40; 2. Jeannie Henderson (Nedbank) 39:46; 3.Andrea Steyn (Trivium) 40:09

Category 50-59: 1. Elizabeth Potter (Boxer) 4:49; 2. Anne Stewart (Atlantic) 42:51; S3. Salome Cooper (Jeppe Quondam) 43:14

Category 60-69: 1. Judy Bird (Boxer) 43:00; 2. Gail Babich (Savages) 47:01; 3. Dalene Sonnekus (Nedbank) 48:12

Category 70+: 1. Winnie Koekemoer (Team Vitality) 01:01:16; 2. Annatje Greyvenstein 01:06:22; 3. Lettie Coetzee (Pretoria Bobbies) 01:14:43

Huge congratulations to the top 3 finishers of the 10km! 💪
🥇Glenrose Xaba
🥈Dinaya Abaraya
🥉Selam Gebre
You gave it your all & crushed it out there! 🎉 Well done to each of you!#SPARWomensTshwane #Twenty20Thrive pic.twitter.com/NPIQSpra8N

— SPAR Women's Challenge Tshwane (@SPARWomensPta) August 2, 2025

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