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IOL News
01-08-2025
- Sport
- IOL News
Karabo More: SA 5km champion ready to conquer the road ahead
Karabo More, left, in action during the Absa Run Your City Cape Town 10K in May. The national 5km champions faces a busy second half of the year. With her maiden national road running title in the bag, Karabo More could get the chance to measure her recent progress against the brightest star currently in South African middle-distance running — training partner and fellow Boxer Athletics Club runner Glenrose Xaba. Running in the colours of Athletics Gauteng North (AGN), the 23-year-old More won the 5km event at the Athletics South Africa (ASA) Road Running Championships in Phalaborwa, Limpopo, last Saturday. This victory adds to the 4km cross-country crown she secured earlier in 2024. 'I feel incredibly excited, proud of myself, and maybe even a bit in disbelief,' More said, reflecting on the dominant win that saw her cross the finish line in 16:37. 'It's a reward for all the hard work, discipline, and the setbacks I've overcome along the way.' She finished almost 20 seconds ahead of runner-up Zanthè Taljaard of Athletics Vaal Triangle (16:56), who was followed by KwaZulu-Natal Athletics' Busisiwe Chamane (17:19). Saturday's performance in Limpopo will have come as little surprise to those who have been following the runner's consistent improvement over the past 12 months. This year alone, More — who is coached by Violet Semenya — has set personal bests in the 800m (2:07.68), 1500m (4:10.40), 5000m (15:51.84), and 10km (33:22). The latter mark was achieved at the Absa Run Your City Gqeberha 10K on April 13, where she dipped under 34 minutes for the first time to finish in seventh position.
IOL News
13-07-2025
- Sport
- IOL News
Gelant remains upbeat despite title loss in Durban 10K
Defending champion Elroy Gelant (left) finished in fifth place at the Absa Run Your City Durban 10K on Sunday morning that was won by Kabelo Mulaudzi (right) . Image: Anthony Grote Elroy Gelant remains positive despite failing to defend his Absa Run Your City Durban 10K title on Sunday morning, with the World Athletics Championships the bigger picture for the celebrated South African marathon record holder. Fellow Boxer Athletics Club runner Kabelo Mulaudzi clocked a personal best of 27:41 to win the tightly contested race. Kamehelo Mofolo of Lesotho was second (27:47), Kenya's Vincent Kipkorir third (27:48), and Tanzania's Jummanne Ngoya fourth. Gelant crossed the line in fifth, clocking 27:58. He pointed to a change in the course layout — which added more corners and inclines — as a possible reason for his slower time. Gelant won last year's edition in 27:47. Kabelo Mulaudzi clocked a personal best of 27:41 to win the highly contested Absa Run Your City Durban 10K on Sunday. Image: Anthony Grote Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading 'I won't tell the organiser, but it's not that fast, especially with the corners. And at 6km to 7km there's that small hump. For a marathon that might be okay, but for a 10km race, running 2:45s on those hills is not easy. Even a car travelling 120km/h slows down when it gets to a bump — so it wasn't easy,' Gelant said, after the race. He remained with the lead group until the final 2km, when Mulaudzi's decisive surge blew the race open. Still, Gelant refuses to let Sunday's run derail his ambitions of a podium finish in the marathon at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo this September. 'I would still say it was a positive run in terms of my preparations for the world championships,' he said. His confidence is backed by a stellar 2:05:36 performance at the Hamburg Marathon earlier this year — a new South African record — and an 11th place finish at last year's Olympic marathon in Paris. 'The difference is the self-belief,' he explained. 'Even this year, for me to run that 2:05 was because of the self-belief I gained last year at the Olympics. That's what I'm taking into the world championships. It's the belief that I can actually do it that's slowly coming back.' 'I got a cramp at 37km (in Hamburg), and I think I could have maybe done 2:05:10 or somewhere around there.' With several East African stars either skipping the world championships or potentially dropping out in favour of major marathons, Gelant believes a top-three finish is realistic. 'Tokyo will be much more humid, but I think with that time you can maybe make the top six — and with the East Africans not there, maybe aim for the top three.' Reflecting on the East African challenge in Durban, Gelant added: 'They were quite good, but I wasn't at my best today. "I could feel from 8km that I was struggling. Last year, by 8km I was still idling in fifth gear, and when I got to 9km I said, 'Let me go into sixth'. This time around, I was already struggling at 8km. The Kenyans are still here — they're not going anywhere. So they were good, but I also don't feel they were that good.'
IOL News
13-07-2025
- Sport
- IOL News
Glenrose Xaba falls short of national record after finishing fifth at Absa Durban 10K
Glenrose Xaba finished fifth at the Absa Run Your City Durban 10K on Sunday morning in a time of 31:50. Photo: Kevin Sawyer Image: Kevin Sawyer Glenrose Xaba was unable to reach her target of breaking the national 10km record at the Absa Run Your City Durban 10K on Sunday morning, yet still managed to dip below 32 minutes as the first South African home in the elite women's race. The in-form Boxer Athletics Club star finished fifth, behind a quartet of Kenyan runners, in a time of 31:50. The women's race was won by Claire Ndiwa in 30:50, with Janet Mulungi second (30:53) after a thrilling sprint finish. Early frontrunner Jesca Chelangat was dropped in the final kilometre and had to settle for third (30:58), while Rebecca Mwangi came home fourth (31:13). Clare Ndiwa of Kenya crosses the finish line first at the Absa Run Your City Durban 10K on Sunday morning. Image: Anthony Grote Much of the pre-race hype focused on Xaba's attempt to better her national record of 31:12, set at last year's event. However, she blamed changes to the course layout for her inability to do so. 'The pace was okay at the beginning, or first kilometre, but when we reached 6km the course changed too much. There were lots more hills than last year,' she said at the finish on the promenade at Sunkist Beach. 'Last year's course was fast, but this year it was very challenging because there are many climbs. Three climbs take a lot off the speed – four climbs, actually. It's not that course we were expecting from last year. They said it's fast, but it's a bit tough.' Still, the time was an impressive one from South Africa's current 10km queen, who dipped under 32 minutes for the third time this year. It also marked a notable improvement on the 31:54 she clocked at the SPAR Women's 10km Challenge in Durban on 22 June. Absa Durban 10K elite women's race winner Clare Ndiwa (centre) is flanked on the left by third-place finisher Jesca Chelangat, and runner-up Janet Mutungi on her right. Image: Action Photo Asked what it would take to get closer to her record, Xaba said: 'A course that is flat from start to finish, with no climbs. If the course was like last year, all of us were going to run very good times, but I think we slowed down.' The multi-talented 30-year-old was also chasing ranking points in her bid to qualify for the track 5 000m and 10 000m events at the World Championships in Tokyo in September. 'I think this race won't be good for my ranking,' she admitted. 'It was very tough for me. My legs were not responding well in the last 3km. If my legs were responding well, I think I would have run faster.' Xaba refused to blame fatigue from a busy race schedule. 'I don't feel that tired. I'm basing my training more on mileage than speed. My legs just couldn't cope when it came to the hills. I think the hills affected me. I'm used to running flat,' she said. She is now hoping to secure more 5 000m races to improve her strong ranking in that event, as she feels better placed to qualify for the World Championships in the shorter distance than in the 10 000m.
IOL News
11-07-2025
- Sport
- IOL News
Glenrose Xaba aiming for a record-breaking performance at Absa Run Your City Durban 10K
Distance runner Glenrose Xaba is hoping to continue her fine recent form at the Absa Run Your City Durban 10K on Sunday. Glenrose Xaba will be hoping to continue her remarkable form over 10km so far this year when the distance runner lines up for the Absa Run Your City Durban 10K on Sunday. The notoriously fast, flat route offers the potential for the star of the track and road to dip under 32 minutes for the third time this year. Xaba will be aiming for her fastest time of the season, and is confident of beating her national 10km record. The Boxer Athletics Club runner stormed home in a time of 31:12 at the Absa Run Your City Durban 10K last year to take overall fourth place and better Elana Meyer's 23-year-old national mark. 'Yes. That's the plan,' was her response to questions about the possibility of setting a new SA record. 'I want to write my own history.' Xaba's performance in the recent SPAR Women's 10km Challenge in Durban will only add to her belief that she can once again raise the bar. She crossed the finish line in a time of 31:54 despite breezy conditions in Durban on June 22. She made light work of the challenge of the Ethiopian duo of Diniya Abaraya and Selam Gebre on that occasion. 'Consistency, determination and discipline are key,' Xaba explained when asked how she keeps on churning out world-class times despite a busy season. 'The body is feeling okay since I prepared it from the beginning of the season because I knew that it would have a lot of races.'
The Herald
26-06-2025
- Sport
- The Herald
Leading SA athletes set sights on Nelson Mandela Bay Half Marathon
A strong contingent of SA's leading professional road runners is set to compete in the 11th edition of the Nelson Mandela Bay Half Marathon at Pollok Beach on Saturday (7am). The 21.1km road race has also attracted some leading runners from the rest of the continent. Glenrose Xaba, who won the Durban SPAR Grand Prix 10km race at the weekend, is back and will be looking for a podium finish on Saturday. In 2024, the 30-year-old Boxer Athletics Club runner was only two seconds shy of finishing in the top three and settled for fourth place after crossing the finish line in one hour, 13 minutes and 40 seconds. Ethiopians Diniya Kedir Abaraya and Selam Fente Gebre, who finished second and third in the 10km in Durban, will be in the starting line-up for the women's race on Saturday. In the 2024 women's race, Ethiopia's Tadu Nare dominated as she led from the gun to win in 1:12:01, ahead of compatriot Abaraya (1:12:31), who finished as the first junior. Lesotho's Blandina Makatisi was third in 1:13:39, while Xaba, in fourth overall (1:13:42), finished as the first South African. This time round, the 19-year-old Nedbank Running Club athlete will look to be the first female to cross the finish line. SA's Cacisolle Sosibo, who finished in fifth place in the women's race in 2024, has also confirmed her participation. Hollywood Athletics Club will bring a competitive group of athletes to the event, including Olympians Stephen Mokoka and Neheng Khatala, and talented 23-year-old Tayla Kavanagh. Mokoka, who has made four Olympic appearances and holds the 50km ultra-marathon world record and three Cape Town Marathon titles, is among those who will be chasing the title this weekend. The 40-year-old last won the NMB Half Marathon in 2019. In 2020, he was beaten by compatriot Precious Mashele, who made way for Lesotho's Namakoe Nkhasi in 2021. In 2023, Gqeberha runner Thabang Mosiako crossed the finish line first to make sure the title remained in the Bay. In 2024, three-time Olympian Elroy Gelant, 37, who won the first edition of the NMB Half-Marathon in 2014, crossed the finish line in one hour, three minutes and 54 seconds for his second title. The 2022 champion, Namakoe Nkhasi, took second place in 1:04:04, and Mashele was third in 1:04:05 for Central Gauteng Athletics. Other top runners such as 2022 NMB Half Marathon winner Melikhaya Frans of Gqeberha, brothers Daniel and Simon Paulus (Namibia), and South Africans Puseletso Mofokeng and Dino Nako will be among the entries in a powerful men's line-up. Kenya's Rodgers Kipchirchir Murei and Saibi Chebet of Uganda confirmed their participation in May. The 11th edition of the popular race will see the addition of a 5km distance, with the aim of attracting more development athletes. Race organisers have exceeded their target of 2,000 entries. The race starts in Marine Drive at Pollok Beach and includes a loop through Nelson Mandela University. The cut-off time is three hours and 30 minutes. The Herald
