Gqeberha, Eastern Cape: Defending champion Glenrose Xaba (Boxer) became the first black South African to win three SPAR Grand Prix titles when she won the Gqeberha SPAR Women’s 10km Challenge at the weekend. She also won the title in 2018 and 2024.
Xaba now has 115 points and has an unassailable lead and will win the title even if she misses the final race in Johannesburg on Sunday.
Ethiopian Selam Gebre (Nedbank) is second on the log, with 101 points. Gebre, still recovering from running the Buenos Aires Marathon, recently finished in fifth place at the weekend.
Third on the log is Tuks athlete, Karabo Mailula, who has 88 points. She is just two points ahead of Gebre’s teammate and fellow Ethiopian, Dinayah Abaraya.
In the Junior category, Wiepke Schoeman (Boxer) leads with 35 points. Her nearest rivals are teammates Chanell Groenewalt with 26 and Taya Pelser, with 14.
Janie Grundling (Peak Performance) leads the 40-49 category, with 20 points., while Anne Stewart (Atlantic) heads the 50-59 category, with 23 points – just ahead of Boxer runner Elizabeth Potter, who has 20.
Judy Bird is way ahead of her rivals in the 60 plus category, with 40 points. Former Comrades Marathon gold medallist Grace de Oliveira (Maxed Elite) is in second place, with 28 points.
Xaba joins fellow South Africans Rene Kalmer and Irvette van Zyl, as well as Ethiopian Tadu Nare and Namibian Helalia Johannes as the only runners to win the SPAR Grand Prix three times.
“I hope my winning the SPAR Grand Prix three times will encourage young athletes. I hope they look at what I have achieved and think to themselves, if she can do it, so can I,” said Xaba.
The fifth and final race in the SPAR Grand Prix series, the Jozi Challenge, takes place at Marks Park on Sunday. The race is already sold out, which means that all five races in this year’s series were fully subscribed.
