Kenya’s Christine Njoki successfully defended her Totalsports Women’s Race Durban title. delivering a fine performance to set a new Allcomers record of 30min 14sec.
“The race wasn’t easy. I wanted to chase the record (referring to the Women’s Only 10km World Record), but I missed it. The next time I come here I know I will prepare well so that I can chase the record,” said Njoki.
When asked about the new Allcomers record that she set, Njoki replied: “I focused on my PB first. I feel so happy to defend my title today. I enjoyed running with my fellow women. To see your physical toughness, it’s good to run with only women. Next week I’ll run the Totalsports Women’s Race in Cape Town. If the weather is the same as today, I know I will run another PB there.”
Clare Ndiwa was second, while Jane Chacha finished third to make it a clean sweep for the Kenyans. Lesotho’s 10km national record holder, Neheng Khatala, set a new national record of 31:53 and securing fourth place.
“The race was absolutely perfect, the weather was absolutely perfect,” said Khatala. “I could see on my watch that I was running on a comfortable pace. I didn’t know that I was on record pace (referring to the Lesotho record). I was just pushing with Tayla (Kavanagh). We were communicating. From halfway we just pushed a little more. Today it was not about the position, it was about us pushing through time. We were just very focused; I am so excited. I’ve been trying to run sub 32 for so many years.”
Neheng’s fellow club runner and first South African home on the day, Tayla Kavanagh ,also set a new PB of 31:53 for
fifth place.
In a move to elevate women’s road running, in 2025 title sponsor Totalsports, in collaboration with event
organiser Stillwater Sports, announced a R1-million incentive for the first female athlete to break the Women’s Only 10km World Record at the Totalsports Women’s Race in Durban. The time to beat was 29:27, set by Kenya’s Agnes Jebet Ngetich.
