Heartbreak for Xaba in windy, wet Cape Town

With victory in her sight in the last 2km, Glenrose Xaba relinquished the lead to finish third behind an Ethiopians pair in the Spar 10km Grand Prix in Cape Town on Sunday.

Due to the wet and windy conditions plus traffic congestion leading to the Green Point Stadium, the season opening Grand Prix’s start time of 7am was delayed by 15 minutes. Even though the weather conditions were not rosy, the people of Cape Town came out in their numbers.

The starting field was competitive despite the champion Tadu Nare’s absence because of the London Marathon commitment. 

However, her compatriots Hiyane Lama, who won the race 33 minutes and 42 seconds, and Selam Gebre finshing second (33:44), did the honours for the East African nation. 

Xaba, who ended finishing third, will live to rue the opportunity to enforce her will on the series as she surrendered her lead in the last 2km. After setting pace in the not–so–favourable conditions, Boxer Athletic Club runner finished third in 34:05.

Reflecting on the race and how she lost the lead with 2km to go, the dismayed 28 year old said her legs gave up on her. 

“I was leading until past the 8km mark and when I started feeling a bit of fatigue, the Ethiopians pulled up to me. I was feeling fatigued because of the 5,000m at the Cape Millers Endurocad on Monday,” Xaba said during the post-race conference.

“So my legs were a bit tired but I’m happy about the performance of today, even though I was expecting to run a lot faster, like a sub-32.  I’m very happy, I’m looking forward to having a good season and trying to qualify for the world champ,” she said.

With the sense that the Ethiopian athletes will dominate the series again this season, a question if a training camp for SA athletes will be a solution to combat this, Xaba, said the idea was impractical due to the varying coaching methods. 

“I can’t say it will help to train as a group,” Xaba said. 

“Every coach has their own method to train his athletes but if we can be able to work together in the race and tell each other information, push each other it can work in the race but not train together.”