Xaba falls short of national record after finishing fifth

GLENROSE Xaba was unable to reach her target of breaking the national 10km record at the Absa Run Your City Durban 10K on Sunday morning, yet still managed to dip below 32 minutes as the first South African home in the elite women's race.

- ROWAN CALLAGHAN

The inform Boxer Athletics Club star finished fifth, behind a quartet of Kenyan runners, in a time of 31:50.

The women's race was won by Claire Ndiwa in 30:50, with Janet Mulungi second (30:53) after a thrilling sprint finish. Early front-runner Jesca Chelangat was dropped in the final kilometre and had to settle for third (30:58), while Rebecca Mwangi came home fourth (31:13).

Much of the pre-race hype focused on Xaba's attempt to better her national record of 31:12, set at last year's event. However, she blamed changes to the course layout for her inability to do so.