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The secret behind Xaba’s big win

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Spar Grand Prix champion Glenrose Xaba (right) with her mentor Violet Semenya. Picture: Daniel Mothowagae
Spar Grand Prix champion Glenrose Xaba (right) with her mentor Violet Semenya. Picture: Daniel Mothowagae

Spar Women’s 10km Challenge champion Glenrose Xaba had credited middle-distance runner Violet Semenya as one of the behind-the-scenes forces that powered her to the title of the lucrative competition.

Last weekend, Xaba (23) became the newest champion of the popular women’s 10km series, the final leg of which was run in Johannesburg on Sunday.

“Violet is a loving person who wants to see me achieve all my goals,” Xaba told City Press.

She is set to receive R185 000 in prize money for her efforts.

Her coronation has been delayed because the results from the Pietermaritzburg leg of the race that will finalise the leaderboard are yet to be determined.

This is due to a controversy that followed the outcome of the event in August when five runners, including Xaba, were disqualified for taking a wrong turn and straying from the “official” route.

Nevertheless, this has not dampened the spirits of the woman from Embalenhle township in Mpumalanga. There is no permutation that will take away her crown, including the fact that she finished fourth on Sunday.

The Boxer Athletics Club runner accumulated 17 points to add to her haul of 87 at the Marks Park race to steer clear of her chasers on the leaderboard.

“I am so excited because it was always my wish to win the Spar race. I am going to invest my prize money wisely and help my family with some,” said Xaba, the eldest in a family of four children.

Semenya said she had implemented the programme devised by the coach, the renowned Michael “Sponge” Seme, who is based in Newcastle as KwaZulu-Natal’s head of athletics.

“Coach Sponge sent us a programme to follow and I helped Glenrose with her long runs,” Semenya said this week. “I just gave Glenrose advice on putting more mileage on her legs to last longer for the season. The change helped her.”

Semenya, formerly known as Raseboya, who changed her surname after getting married to 800m world champion Caster Semenya in 2017, said she was mentoring Xaba not only in sport, but also with her studies.

Xaba said: “Violet loves education and she always reminds me that sport is a short-lived career and I need to get a qualification to fall back on when I am no longer running.”

Xaba is a final-year electrical engineering student at Tshwane North College.

Semenya said: “I would like to see her doing well in everything, while she remains humble and lets the results talk for her.”

When asked if she had an ambition to pursue a career in coaching, Semenya said: “I want to give it a try in long-distance running and, if it doesn’t work, I will start helping young kids under the supervision of coach Sponge.

“Mokgadi [Caster] and I have run an athletics club that looks for raw talent in disadvantaged areas. We wish to give others the same opportunities we got.”

Meanwhile, Athletics SA released the latest South African road-running rankings this week.

Xaba is one of five women who has dipped under 34 minutes in the 10km event so far this season.

Irvette van Zyl leads the standings after she finished her race in Cape Town in 32 minutes and 49 seconds last month. Xaba is second on the list with a time of 33:21.

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