Pretoria’s Glenrose Xaba continued her dominance of the SPAR Women’s Challenge 10km with yet another compelling victory in the Gqeberha leg this past weekend.

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. With this achievement, she enjoys an unassailable 115 points and she ensured that she would retain the title in the series, despite the fact that there was still one race to be completed. The Johannesburg leg will take place next weekend.

The popular athlete from Pretoria becomes the fifth athlete – and only the third South African – to win the SPAR Grand Prix three times, having also reigned victorious back in 2018. She 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 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 percent. My body was not responding well. The course was very fast. Last year I ran a course record, but today my body was not responding well. I tried my best to push my pace, but I could not push much,” she remarked.

With this victory, Xaba will see her bank balance grows by a cool R200 000 for winning the overall Grand Prix prize.

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Results of the SPAR Grand Prix women’s 10km race held in Gqeberha on Saturday, 27 September 2025.

Open: 1 Glenrose Xaba (Boxer) 31:57, 2 Tayla Kavanagh (Hollywood) 32:01, 3 Diniya Abaraya (Nedbank) 32:04, 4 Karabo Mailula (Tuks) 32:43, 5 Selam Gebre (Nedbank) 33:02, 6 Karabo More (Boxer) 33:15, 7 Cacisile Sosibo (Boxer) 33:47, 8 Carina Swiegers (Boxer) 35:47, 9 Nicola Wills (Boxer) 35:56, 10 Lizandre Mulder (Kovsies) 36:10

Junior: Chanell Groenewalt (Boxer) 38:16, 2 Hlengiwe Nkosi (Madibaz) 39:32, 3 Abbie Mitchell (Madibaz) 41:25, 4 Ilke Wolmarans (Elite) 47:03, 5 Entle Komani (Kowie) 48:50

40-49: 1 Janie Grundling (Peak) 37:03, 2 Nerida Lubbe (Nedbank) 39:20, 3 Ntombesintu Mfunzi (Nedbank) 42:38, 4 Cindy Marais (Charlo) 43:50, 5 Natascia de Ridder (Elite) 48:23

50-59: 1 Elizabeth Potter (Boxer) 39:42, 2 Janene Carey (Boxer) 42:23, 3 Davera Magson (Nedbank) 45:33, 4 Liezl van Zyl (Nedbank) 46:32, 5 Burinta Strydom (Run 4 Christ) 46:54

60-69: 1 Judy Bird (Boxer) 41:42, 2 Grace de Oliveira (Maxed Elite) 45:13, 3 Christine Claasen (Nedbank) 46:41, 4 Lelanie Cornelius (NA) 49:39, 5 Johanette Oosthuizen (Body Concept) 50:44

70-79: 1 Margie Saunders (Nedbank) 45:06, 2 Rozetta Kemp (Run 4 Christ) 56:30

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