Kavanagh finished just four seconds behind Xaba at the Spar Grand Prix 10km race in Gqeberha.
A few years ago, Tayla Kavanagh looked to be the next elite star of South African road running, and though she struggled since then with ups and downs, she has made a superb comeback to elite competition.
Glenrose Xaba has dominated the local road running scenes in recent years, with her compatriots struggling to close the gap on the diminutive athlete who broke the SA 10km and 42km records last year.
Now, however, she has to contend with a reemergent Kavanagh, who set a personal best of 31:53 at the Totalsports women’s 10km race in Durban last month, climbing to fourth place in the all-time national rankings over the distance.
Kavanagh, who has struggled with various injuries and setbacks over the last few seasons, faced another hiccup at the Hollywoodbets 10km event in Durban four weeks ago where she blacked out and collapsed around the 7km mark. It was later revealed she was battling an infection and her blood glucose levels had dropped, causing her to faint.
Back in action
Bouncing back, Kavanagh returned to action at the weekend, taking second place at the Spar Grand Prix 10km contest in Gqeberha in 32:01, crossing the line just four seconds behind Xaba after pushing her all the way.
“Sometimes these things happen and I think the biggest thing I took from that (Hollywoodbets) race was that things happen, but it’s how you come back as an athlete, whether it’s from illness or injury,” said 24-year-old Kavanagh, a former national 5km champion.
“You’ve got to look at the situation, take the lessons and go forward with it. So I think the goal (at the Spar race on Saturday) was just to go out there, have a good race and come back from that little blip I had.”
According to Kavanagh, going back to basics had been key to making her impressive comeback on the elite domestic circuit.
“I’ve just been focussing on consistency race after race, and the things that work for me,” she said.
“I’ve gone back to basics in terms of what training works for me as an athlete, which I think is really important, and by doing that I’ve found some of the good form I had a few years ago.”
