The Boxer star won the first race of the 2024 SPAR Grand Prix series in Cape Town in March and now has a total of 59 points, with full bonus points in both races. 

Xaba says she is determined to reclaim the title she won in 2018.  

“I know it will be very hard work.  I have had a lot of challenges and a lot of injuries, but I am running well now, and I just have to work hard and believe in myself,” says Xaba.

The Ethiopian junior Diniya Abaraya (Nedbank) is in second position, with 55 points, after coming second in Cape Town and fifth in Durban.

Cacisile Sosibo (Boxer) proves the value of consistency in the SPAR Races. Sosibo finished ninth in Cape Town and eighth in Durban, and she is in third position with a total of 35 points, having received 10 bonus points in Cape Town.

Three times SPAR Prix winner, the Ethiopian Tadu Nare (Nedbank) is in fourth position with 30 points, having won the Durban race with bonus points. Nare missed the opening season race in Cape Town due to injury.

Nare, who won the title in 2021, 2022 and 2023, says the SPAR Grand Prix was extremely important to her.

“It has helped me financially and it has helped me as an athlete,” says Nare.

“This has been my starting point for running in international half marathons and marathons.”  

She says the presence of international runners in the SPAR Grand Prix has helped South African runners like Xaba improve their times.

“I am so pleased to see how Glenrose has improved since I first ran against her. I regard her as a real challenge and I know how hard she is working, so I will have to work hard too.”

Athletes’ best performances in four of the five SPAR 10km Challenge races will count towards the final winner at the end of the season.  This means that runners will be able to remain competitive in the SPAR Grand Prix if they miss races because of injury or because they are representing their country internationally.

Boxer leads the club competition, with 263 points. Nedbank is in second place with 150 points, followed by Maxed Elite with 55 one point ahead of fourth placed Hollywood Athletics Club with 54 points.

The SPAR Grand Prix is the largest women only 10km road race series on the continent boasting a prize money purse of R 2 million over five races. The first South African on the year end leaderboard will get to drive a Proton X50 SUV for a calendar year as part of her prize.

The next SPAR Grand Prix 10km race is in Tshwane on Saturday afternoon, 3 August 2024.

2024 SPAR Grand Prix Calendar

• Cape Town: Sunday, 24 March 2024
• Durban: Sunday, 23 June 2024
• Tshwane: Saturday, 3 August 2024
• Gqeberha: Saturday, 21 September 2024 
• Jozi: Sunday, 6 October 2024

For further information go to.

SPAR Grand Prix Website: https://www.sparwomensrace.co.za/