When the starter’s gun cracks over Nelson Mandela Bay on Sunday, 1 March 2026, the sound may echo far beyond the beachfront. For Glenrose Xaba, the opening leg of the 2026 Absa RUN YOUR CITY GQEBERHA 10K is more than a season debut, it’s a calculated assault on history.
After a breakthrough 2025 campaign in the Absa RUN YOUR CITY Series, where she secured three podium finishes including two victories, Xaba returns sharper, stronger and strategically rebuilt. Her season included a second career marathon and a gritty appearance at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in the United States.
“The body is feeling good,” Xaba says, describing a recovery block built on easy mileage, strength conditioning and disciplined physiotherapy. If 2025 was about endurance, 2026 is about precision. Each week has layered intensity onto resilience.
Now comes the true test.
Africa’s Fastest 10K Field
Race organisers are billing the Gqeberha opener as the fastest women’s 10km field ever assembled on African soil. Among those toeing the line are Kenya’s sub-30-minute star Brenda Jepchirchir and compatriot Faith Cherono. These are athletes accustomed to dictating blistering early splits.
For Xaba, the clash is primed to push herself to her limits.
“When you line up against athletes of that calibre, it pulls you to a higher level,” she says. “It’s an opportunity to challenge myself.”
The numbers suggest something special is within reach. Xaba holds the South African 10km record at 31:12. She clocked 31:50 for third place in Gqeberha last year. With a faster field likely to drag the pace through 5km in under 15:30, the elusive sub-31 barrier which has never been breached by a South African woman, moves from a dream to a possibility.
Racing the Clock, Not Just the Field
Breaking 31 minutes requires demands restraint in the opening kilometres and faith in the closing surge. In championship terms, it is the difference between chasing shadows and casting them.
Xaba knows the course, its coastal breezes, its long straights, its unforgiving honesty. She returns not just to compete, but to recalibrate what is possible for South African women’s road running.
Behind the scenes, the Series’ R1 686 000 combined prize purse and innovative SA athlete incentives add further fuel to an already blazing contest. But for Xaba, legacy outweighs prize money. Records endure longer than cheques.
If the pace unfolds as predicted, Gqeberha may witness more than a race. It may see a national standard stretched to its limit – stride by stride, breath by breath.
And should Xaba dip under 31 minutes, it will not merely be a personal best. It will be a benchmark for a generation.
2026 Absa RUN YOUR CITY Series Dates
- 1 March 2026 – Gqeberha 10K
- 10 May 2026 – Cape Town 10K
- 12 July 2026 – Durban 10K
- 23 August 2026 – Tshwane 10K
- 24 September 2026 – Joburg 10K
