South African cross-country champion Kabelo Mulaudzi won the Absa Run Your City Cape Town 10km, clocking a personal best 27min 49sec in the process. In the women’s race Glenrose Xaba won in Cape Town for the first time, with a 30min exactly, time.
The 27-year-old controlled the race from the gun and then picked up the pace in the second half to cross the finish line first followed by Lesotho’s Kamehelo Mofolo, whose 27:53 which was just one second behind Namakoe Nkhasi’s Leostho national record. The 40-year-old Stephen Mokoka rounded out the top three in a season’s best as the top ten men all dipped under 28:30.
“I am very happy with my performance today because I wanted to run my PB. Today was just my day,” he told SABC.
“My plan in this race was to go and attack from the start. I was pushing my pace the entire time, but even the guys around me were pushing me all the way,” said Mulaudzi.
The Boxer Running Club star was initially unsettled when Mofolo surged ahead early, putting pressure on the chasing pack.
Doubting it was going to be his day, he nevertheless dug deep, caught up with Mofolo, and took command of the race in the final 2km.
“To be honest, I was quite scared because I saw Mofolo coming for me, but I just told myself to push a little bit harder to finish stronger,” Mulaudzi said.
“In the last 2km, I used the memory of my late mother to power me to the finishing line. She passed away when I was still very young, so I think this is a great gift for her today.”
Malaudzi took home R70,000, for winning (R30,000) and breaking the 28-minute barrier (R40,000).
Xaba matched his earnings, pocketing R70,000 for winning the women’s race and finishing under the 32:08 incentive mark, hotting the tape in 32:00.00. Xaba also made history by ending a nine-year drought for South African women at the Cape Town event.
”I’m very happy to win the race especially with the very good field of fast athletes. It’s the first time I’ve got a podium finish in this Cape Town 10k In the past, I never ran well here. I’m always number six, five and never even had a fourth place, so to win today feels great,” said Xaba.
Selam Gebre finished second in 32:13 while Lebo Phalula clocked 32:50 for the last podium position.
