Tayla Kavanagh shattered her personal best by 16 seconds to post the fastest 10km finish by a South African woman this year, coming in a time of 31:37 to successfully defend her 2025 Sanlam Peace 10km Run title in Cape Town on Saturday, 18 October 2025.
Having only recently broken through the 32-minute barrier with a 31:53 personal best in August in Durban, Kavanagh came to Cape Town determined to improve on that mark. This saw her management team organise an official pacesetter for her, none other than SA Olympian on the track with a sub-28-minute 10km to his name, Ryan Mphahlele.
Kavanagh and Mphahlele have been teammates before, both representing SA at the 2023 World Road Running Champs in Riga, Latvia, and their teamwork today helped Kavanagh bring her best time down to 31:37.
This moves her to 11th place on the all-time list of 10km times run by South African women, with only Glenrose Xaba, Elana Meyer, and Colleen de Reuck having ever gone faster.
“Today I really wanted to go for the win again, because last year was such a great race, with great support out there, and I had a lot of fun again. I think the more fun you have, the faster you run.”
2025 Sanlam Peace 10km Run Champion, Tayla Kavanagh
“Even though it was a bit windy out there, I just tried to focus on my plan, which was to go out and run hard today, and I am super happy with the way I was able to execute that. Fortunately, I had Ryan to help me, and I was able to stick to him and run the time that I thought my form said I could.”
The women’s podium was rounded off by Carina Viljoen coming home second in 33:02, followed by 2022 winner of this race, Irvette van Zyl, in 33:29. Fourth place went to Kyla Jacobs in 33:57, with Cian Oldknow claiming fifth in 34:35.
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Another impressive fact is that all the women in the top five have represented South Africa on the world stage, at various World Championships or Olympics, and the class of the field shone through despite the windy conditions.
Still, it was Kavanagh who deserves all the plaudits, says second-placed Viljoen. “Luckily, I heard what Tayla was aiming for today, so I knew I had to let her do her thing and just focus on my own race.”
“I was second here last year as well, so I felt I had an idea of the course, but every race is different, and I really had fun.”
2025 Sanlam Peace 10km Run Silver Medalist, Carina Viljoen
“It was slightly windy out there, in your face on the way out but then behind your back later, so it was both helpful and not helpful, and there was an extra little hill that I wasn’t anticipating, but it went well and I’m really happy with another second here.”
To the disappointment of participants and organisers alike, the 2025 Cape Town Marathon, due to have been run on Sunday, was cancelled at the last minute in the interests of safety following warnings of dangerous conditions due to inclement weather.
Leading 2025 Sanlam Peace 10km Run Results in Cape Town on Saturday, 18 October 2025
1. Tayla Kavanagh (Hollywood) 31:37
2. Carina Viljoen (Temp) 33:02
3. Irvette van Zyl (Hollywood) 33:29
4. Kyla Jacobs (Boxer) 33:57
5. Cian Oldknow (Hollywood) 34:35
Original Copy: Cape Town Marathon, with editing by gsport
Main Photo Caption: Tayla Kavanagh shattered her personal best by 16 seconds to post the fastest 10km finish by a South African woman this year, coming in a time of 31:37 to successfully defend her 2025 Sanlam Peace 10km Run title in Cape Town on Saturday, 18 October 2025. Photo: Supplied
Photo 2 Caption: The winners podium (from left) Carina Viljoen (silver), Tayla Kavanagh (gold) and Irvette van Zyl (bronze) at the Sanlam Peace 10km Run finish line.
