The Tembisa-based runner won both Durban and Johannesburg in 2025, but says this year’s race will serve as a measure of where he stands against a strong elite field.
“Whenever I line up at a race, I want to win,” Mphahlele said. “But my fitness isn’t anywhere near where it was at this time last year. I’ll definitely compete for the win, but I’ll also use the race to see where my fitness is now and how I compare with the other athletes.”
Mphahlele returns to a fast, flat Durban course he favours, although his previous victory offers little comfort ahead of another fiercely contested race.
Last year’s win required a fight to the finish, and the defending champion expects the competition to be tougher this time.
“I enjoy the fast, flat course and expect the tactics to be similar to last year,” he said. “The standard was already very high, and the win didn’t come easily.”
The attractive prize purse adds another incentive to an elite race that has already attracted a sold-out field.
Stillwater Sports managing director Michael Meyersaid Mphahlele’s return would add further intrigue to the contest, particularly given his candid assessment of his preparation.
The elite women’s race starts at 09:45, with the elite men following at 10:00 at Snell Parade near Blue Lagoon Park.
For Mphahlele, the race offers two targets: another title and an answer to a more immediate question about his form.
JOHANNESBURG – “Something must be done about the horrific levels of gender-based violence in South Africa.”Gerda Steyn’s powerful words set the tone for the finalSPAR Women’s Grand Prix race in Johannesburg on Sunday, where thousands of women turned the City of Gold into a moving sea of solidarity before Glenrose “Supercharger” Xaba powered her way into the history books.
Steyn led a moment of silence before the race to honour victims of gender-based violence and femicide, while the elite athletes wore black armbands in solidarity with women living under the shadow of violence.
Hollywood AC’s Hollywood AC’s Irvette van Zyl, Makhosi and Gerda Steyn at the start of the 2026 SPAR Women’s Grand Prix and 10km Challenge and 5km Fun Run at Marks Park Sports Club (Photo by Reg Caldecott/Gallo Images)
“Women should be able to go about their daily lives without fear, and if they want to run, they should be free to do so without wondering whether they will get home safely,” said Steyn.
The message carried extra weight on a morning when about 15 000 women took to the streets for the Jozi SPAR Women’s 10km Challenge.
Then came the moment that mattered more than the stopwatch.
Xaba had already etched her name into SPAR Grand Prix history when she stormed across the Marks Park finish line in 32:26 to win the fifth and final race of the series and secure an unprecedented fourth Grand Prix title.
Seconds later, the 29-year-old Boxer athlete found her 89-year-old grandmother, Elizabeth Xaba, and wrapped her in an emotional embrace.
It was the first time Elizabeth had watched her granddaughter race live.
The stopwatch recorded 32:26. The embrace recorded something far more personal.
“My grandma is a special lady to me. She’s very close to my heart and I’m so happy that she’s there to witness the thing that I’m doing,” Xaba said.
“She taught me very well and she always believes in me and always motivates me all the time. If I’m feeling down, she’s always there for me.
“I can say that I love her so much and she loves me too. And I’m glad that she’s there today.”
Xaba’s victory completed a remarkable season in which her trademark acceleration once again turned the final kilometres into a launching pad.
Glenrose Xaba celebrates her 2026 SPAR Women’s Grand Prix victory with her grandmother Elizabeth Xaba at Marks Park Sports Club. (Photo by Reg Caldecott/Gallo Images)
Her Boxer teammate Karabo More followed her home in 33:36 for second place, with Selam Gebre of Nedbank third in 33:52. Esther Borura finished fourth in 34:25, followed by Irvette van Zyl in 34:42.
More, who has repeatedly shown her resilience throughout the series, said she was proud of another podium finish after a demanding week.
“I’m really proud of myself. It was a very challenging week. I think I had to push from start to finish,” she said. “It’s all about your mental state. If it’s very strong, you can fight. By God’s grace, I was able to get another podium finish.”
Karabo Mailula was sixth in 35:14, Steyn seventh in 35:23, Kyla Jacobs eighth in 35:25, Emma Browne ninth in 35:31 and Dirbe Dagne 10th in 35:51.
On a morning when running became a platform for solidarity, Xaba supplied the history and her grandmother supplied the heart.
The final image was fitting: a champion who had spent 10km chasing the clock finally stopped to embrace the person who had helped her believe she could outrun it.
There will be a moment of silence before the first footsteps echo through Marks Parkon Sunday, but once the gun goes, there will be no room for silence in the battle for the 2026 SPAR Women’s Grand Prix crown.
A sold-out field of 15 000 women will pause to honour victims of gender-based violence (GBV) and femicide before the Jozi SPAR Women’s 10km Challengegets under way.
Leading that moment will be South Africa’s golden ultra-running star Gerda Steyn, who will also line up for the 10km.
Then the focus shifts to the front of the race, whereGlenrose “Supercharger” Xaba has a chance to run herself into SPAR Grand Prix history.
The defending champion can become the first athlete to win the series four times, but Cacisile Sosibo holds the advantage heading into the final round.
Cacisile Sosibo in action at the 2026 SPAR Women’s 10km Challenge in Cape Town in March 2026 (Photo by Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images)
Sosibo leads on 99 points, with Xaba on 89 and Ethiopian Selam Gebre on 86. Karabo More and Karabo Mailula also remain mathematically in contention.
The championship mathematics add another layer of intrigue. The series consists of five races, with only an athlete’s best four results counting towards the final standings. Xaba missed the Durban leg while representing South Africa in the United States, keeping the door open for a late charge.
Sosibo has built her lead the hard way: through consistency. She has finished inside the top 10 in every race and collected maximum bonus points in three races.
Xaba, meanwhile, arrives in Jozi with her racing shoes warmed up and confidence running high.
She won last weekend’s Gqeberha SPAR Women’s Challenge in 31:17, the second-fastest 10km of her career. Her South African record stands at 31:12, underlining the speed she can bring to Sunday’s title showdown.
The Boxer athlete will have familiar challengers around her, with teammates Sosibo, More and Mailula all capable of making the final kilometres uncomfortable. Gebre will add an international threat, while Ethiopian junior Dirbe Dogne makes her SPAR Women’s Challenge debut.
Race director Brad Glasspoole expects the championship to remain alive until the final results are calculated.
Steyn’s run for a bigger cause
Gerda Steyn in action at the Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon Photo: TTOM
For Steyn, Sunday is about more than pace and placing.
The multiple Two Oceans and Comrades Marathon winner will use her platform to support SPAR’s campaign against GBV, leading the moment of silence before both the 10km and 5km Fun Run.
“Something must be done about the horrific levels of GBV in South Africa,” Steyn said.
“These have been highlighted by the spate of killings in Ekurhuleni. Women should be able to go about their daily lives without fear and if they want to run, they should be free to do so without wondering whether they will get home safely,” she said.
The 10km course starts and finishes at Marks Park and winds through Emmarentia, Greenside, Linden and Parkview. The mainly flat-to-undulating route combines fast sections with steady climbs and passes landmarks including the Johannesburg Botanical Gardens and Melville Koppies.
For the thousands taking part, it is a morning of running, solidarity and remembrance.
GQEBERHA: Glenrose Xaba may have arrived in Gqeberha with tired legs after her World Half Marathon Championship outing in Copenhagen, but the South African road-running sensation left the rain-soaked streets with another piece of history.
The Boxer Athletics Club star scorched her way to a breathtaking 31:16 victory in Saturday morning’s SPAR Women’s 10km Challenge, producing the third-fastest 10km time ever recorded by a South African woman.
The clock was cruelly close to another national record.
Xaba finished only four seconds outside her South African record of 31:12, set at the Absa RUN YOUR CITY DURBAN 10K on 7 July 2024.
GQEBERHA, SOUTH AFRICA – SEPTEMBER 26: Glenrose Xaba Boxer AC – AGN during the 2026 SPAR Women’s Grand Prix 10km Challenge and 5km Fun Run at Pollock Beach Grass Area Summerstrand on September 26, 2026 in Gqeberha, South Africa. (Photo by Michael Sheehan/Gallo Images)
That performance in Durban saw Xaba shatter the long-standing national record of 31:13 held by iconic South African distance runner Elana Meyer for 23 years.
In Gqeberha, the weather offered little assistance. Overcast skies, humidity and persistent rain turned the course into a slippery test of speed and strength, but Xaba treated the conditions as little more than another hurdle to clear.
Her 31:16 was a powerful statement so soon after representing South Africa at the World Half Marathon Championships in Copenhagen.
The stopwatch dangled history in front of her again in Gqeberha.
“I’m just happy and a little bit disappointed because I saw that I was not sure that I was in the SA record time when I was running,” Xaba said. “But when it was 50 metres to 100 metres, I saw that I was inside the record time, but when I crossed the finish line is where I got disappointed because I just missed it.”
There was little sympathy from the weather gods.
Yet Xaba described the course as “a bit challenging but very fast”, adding that she believed it could produce multiple records in future.
“I think it’s the route that can produce multiple records in future and if we can host the world champs, I don’t know when, road running, I think it will be the best route for us.”
Fresh from representing South Africa at the World Half Marathon Championships in Copenhagen, Xaba had every reason to feel the weight in her legs. Instead, she attacked from the gun.
“I just did from gunpoint because I was chasing a bonus time so that I can have the good results and good points,” she said. “I only did two races. This one is a dead one, so I’m chasing the points. I’m glad that everything went according to the way I did in the race.”
Behind her, teammate Karabo More produced one of the day’s biggest breakthroughs, finishing second in 32:21, a 12-second personal best.
More deliberately stepped beyond her comfort zone.
“I think my plan was to come here and run a PB. I’ve always been scared to go in front and go with the girls. So today it was all about risking it and seeing how far I can go,” she said.
“And it worked to my advantage because I was able to fight from start to finish. So for today I’m sure and proud that I started something I was able to finish.”
More said the weather was manageable and revealed how she approached the closing kilometres.
“My coach once told me, with the 10 kilometres, the most important kilometres of the 10 kilometres are the last three. So you need to run smart and try and push to the end.”
At seven kilometres, those words became her fuel.
“I knew then that you just have to move, regardless of how you’re feeling, just try and finish, you’re almost there.”
More said her ambition was to learn from racing closer to athletes of Xaba’s calibre.
GQEBERHA, SOUTH AFRICA – SEPTEMBER 26: Karabo More Boxer AC – AGN during the 2026 SPAR Women’s Grand Prix 10km Challenge and 5km Fun Run at Pollock Beach Grass Area Summerstrand on September 26, 2026 in Gqeberha, South Africa. (Photo by Michael Sheehan/Gallo Images)
“At the end of the day you have to risk it and see where it’s going to take you,” she said. “Each and every kilometre was all about getting faster than the one I did.”
Ethiopian Selam Gebre of Nedbank completed the podium in 32:33, but the loudest statement belonged to Boxer AC.
For Xaba, however, the job remains unfinished.
She is chasing a fourth Grand Prix crown, but refused to assume history is already hers.
“I’m not sure yet that I’m going to win the Grand Prix,” she said. “But to make history, it will for me to be not my history alone. It will be the history of everyone that loved running.”
“It will be inspiration for the young ones and older ones that they look up to me.”
Her victory was not another routine entry in the record books. It was a reminder that South African women’s distance running has a formidable engine at its front, and Xaba continues to push the needle.
The stopwatch says four seconds separated her from her own national record.
The bigger picture says Xaba remains within striking distance of history.
And with the SPAR Grand Prix season gathering pace, the race against the clock has only begun.
The City of Gold now holds the final piece of the puzzle
The Boxer Athletics Club star has a shot at becoming the first woman to win four SPAR Grand Prix titles, but Saturday’s penultimate race in Gqeberha could send the championship race into overdrive.
Xaba currently shares the record of three Grand Prix crowns with fellow South Africans Rene Kalmer and Irvette van Zyl, and Ethiopia’s Tadu Nare.
A victory in this year’s series would put her alone at the top.
But the road to history is littered with potholes.
Kavanagh will miss Gqeberha after staying in Europe following the World Road Running Championships in Copenhagen, where she smashed Elana Meyer’s South African 5km record with a sensational 14:51.
That absence has opened the door for the chasing pack.
And they are coming.
Ethiopian Selam Gebre, currently fourth, will be among those hunting points, while Karabo Mailula, sixth, arrives after finishing fifth in Thursday’sAbsa RUN YOUR CITY Joburg 10K in 34:44.
Irvette van Zyl, another three-time Grand Prix champion, clocked 34:51 in Joburg and sits 10th overall.
Neheng Khatala, Cian Gerber (Oldknow) and Karabo More are also expected to throw themselves into the points battle.
Xaba, meanwhile, is carrying serious form into Gqeberha.
She finished 13th in the Copenhagen half marathon in 1:07:49, the second-fastest 21km time of her career.
Sosibo was 70th in 1:14:00 and will be determined to protect her championship lead.
Then there is the course.
SPAR Grand Prix technical consultantBrad Glasspoole says the new route could produce a furious finish.
“The new Gqeberha route starts at Pollok Beach and avoids the city centre. This reduces traffic, turns and twists,” Glasspoole told Modern Athlete
“There is a 550m climb on 10th Avenue, followed by a 450m descent. The final 2.5km is flat and fast.”
That final stretch could become a sprinting lottery, with tired legs and championship points fighting for the same piece of road.
About 6,000 runners are expected, with wet and windy conditions forecast.
Glasspoole believes the new qualification rule could make Saturday even more important.
“This is a new rule we introduced this year to make the series more competitive. With Johannesburg as the final leg after Gqeberha, Saturday’s points could be decisive.”
Athletes must complete at least three races to qualify for the Grand Prix title.
The five-race series visits Cape Town, Durban, Tshwane, Gqeberha and Johannesburg, with R1,967,500 in total prize money and up to R212,000 available per leg for the South African competition.
Caster Semenya at starting line during the 2025 SPAR Women’s 10km Challenge and 5km Fun Run at Green Point Common Sports Ground on March 30, 2025 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images)
Xaba, Sosibo, Mailula and More are coached by former Olympic 800m champion Caster Semenya and her wife Violet Semenya.
Kabelo Mulaudzi made his move when it mattered to defend his Absa RUN YOUR CITY JOBURG 10K titleon Heritage Day, winning in 28:48 as Kenya’s Deborah Chemutai claimed her first Series victory in 32:50.
Mulaudzi raised his arms in celebration as he crossed the finish on Rahima Moosa Street after a tactical race on a hilly course in hot conditions.
The Boxer Athletics Club runner, who won four of the fiveAbsa RUN YOUR CITY Series races last year, stayed in the chasing bunch behind early pace-setter Dolphine Chelimo of Uganda before making his move in the final 3km.
He surged past Chelimo and held on to finish nine seconds outside his course record of 28:39.
“I wanted to defend my title because everyone had forgotten about me. I’m happy to be back. It’s my first win of the year and in the series. I’m very happy,” Mulaudzi said.
The 28-year-old has endured a frustrating season with a hamstring injury, but said the problem was no longer troubling him.
“I’ve been struggling this year but I’m happy with my performance and defending my title. The injury is fine. It’s just that the race was tactical because it’s high altitude, it’s hot and you are running fast and slow. So, you have to adjust.”
Mulaudzi finished four seconds ahead of teammate Zenzile Pheko, who secured his second consecutive runner-up finish after also placing second in Tshwane.
Kenya’s Stephen Kangethe matched Pheko’s 28:52, taking third after a sprint finish.
Mulaudzi thanked coach Richard Mayer, Series founder Michael Meyer, sponsor PUMA SA and Boxer for their support.
“I would like to thank my coach and Ntate Michael Meyer for organising such a good race, as well as my sponsor PUMA SA and club Boxer for their support.”
Chemutai strikes Joburg gold
Chemutai produced a commanding run to win the women’s race in 32:50, improving on the third place she achieved in Tshwane in August.
The Kenyan led a clean sweep of the podium, with compatriot Mercy Jelimo second in 33:10 and Esther Borura third in 33:27.
Great Britain’s Emma Pallant-Browne was fourth in 34:15, followed by Kenya’s Dorcus Chepkwemoi in 34:21.
Defending champion Karabo Mailula was the leading South African in sixth in 34:44, with Hollywood Athletics Club’s Irvette van Zyl seventh in 34:45.
“I’m happy to win the Absa RUN YOUR CITY JOBURG 10K. The race was hard but I tried. It was my second 10km race,” Chemutai said.
“The course was hard and it was a little bit windy but I’m happy I won.”
Joburg was the fifth completed stop on the 2026 Absa RUN YOUR CITY Series after Gqeberha, Durban and Tshwane, with Cape Town cancelled because of severe weather forecasts.
The Series heads to Bloemfontein on 25 October for the inaugural Absa RUN YOUR CITY MANGAUNG 10K, with the race starting at 07:00 and entries closing on 8 October or when capacity is reached.
The event also featured a Chery vehicle giveaway, with Prudence Gumbi winning a new vehicle valued at R269,900.
For one of South Africa’s most accomplished road runners, the race carries a personal significance. Steyn grew up in the Free State and attended university there, yet has never raced competitively in the province.
She describes her Mangaung debut as a “homecoming” and a full-circle moment.
“The Free State is where I grew up and also where I went to university. Being part of this first Absa RUN YOUR CITY MANGAUNG 10K feels like a homecoming, a full-circle moment because I’ve never actually raced in the Free State or the Northern Cape,” Steyn said.
“I’m sure I will recognise every corner and every turn. Racing a 10km also exposes me to a different side of the running community because I get to meet different people and new faces that I don’t get to meet at the marathons and the ultra-marathons. It’s very, very special indeed.”
The shorter distance will also serve a practical purpose as she rebuilds her speed following another demanding ultra-marathon season.
“I always find that stepping down from the ultra-marathon and marathon distance to race a 10km is very beneficial,” she said.
“After success at the Totalsports TWO OCEANS ULTRA MARATHON and Comrades Marathons this year, I’ve had time to recover and I’m back on the road again, working on my speed.”
The “Smiling Assassin” knows the 10km demands a different kind of aggression.
“The training and the racing for 10km is quite different to the long distances. There’s no room for mistakes. You have to be ready to go from the gun, which forces me to stay sharp and keep focusing on the speed side of my training.”
Steyn has previous experience of the Absa RUN YOUR CITY Series, having competed in the inaugural Tshwane 10K in 2023.
The series began in Cape Town in 2015 and attracted more than 50 000 runners across the country last year. Mangaung becomes its sixth city.
“I think from the start the Absa RUN YOUR CITY Series has had such a wonderful reputation for bringing mass participation and world-class elite-level performances to the heart of South Africa’s urban spaces,” Steyn said.
“Every runner can attest to the fact that the experience, from entering the race to finishing the race, is always so pleasant, which is why we have seen its tremendous growth.”
“Gerda has such a strong connection to the Free State, so to have her return to race here for the first time makes this a particularly special moment,” Meyer said.
The race starts at 07:00 at the Sir George Grey Street exit of Grey College, with the finish on Kings Way.
Steyn’s target is straightforward.
“My aim is to get the most out of myself on race day, which is all I can ask of myself.”
In Mangaung, the ultra queen gets a chance to show how sharp her shorter-distance claws remain.
But there is another race nobody can afford to lose.
The race against the clock.
For ballot winners targeting the 2027 Two Oceans Ultra and Half Marathon, missing a crucial deadline could turn months of sweat, sacrifice and training into a cruel calendar casualty.
And there will be no sprint down the admin straight after the chequered flag.
Ultra hopefuls must complete an official qualifying race between 1 May 2026 and 7 March 2027.
Totalsports TWO OCEANS HALF MARATHON powered by BYD PHOTO CREDIT Chris Hitchcock
A standard 42.2km marathon must be completed in under five hours, while longer races must satisfy the applicable Two Oceans qualifying standard.
The race must be officially measured and timed, with the distance meeting Athletics South Africa and World Athletics measurement standards.
In other words, runners cannot rely on a GPS watch having a bad day or a race organiser’s creative approach to kilometres.
For Half Marathon runners, the magic numbers are 10km, 15km and 21.1km. An official time from one of those distances must be submitted by 28 February 2027 to ensure correct seeding.
Chris Goldschmidt, Chairperson of the Two Oceans Marathon NPC, urged runners to get their ducks in a row.
“Race Day is the culmination of months of preparation, and we want to make sure that runners have all the information they need to prepare with confidence,” he said.
The 2027 running festival kicks off with the 8km Night Run on 31 March, followed by the 4.5km International Friendship Run on 1 April and Trail Run on 2 April.
Totalsports TWO OCEANS HALF MARATHON powered by BYD PHOTO CREDIT Chris Hitchcock
The Half Marathon fires on 3 April, followed by the big one, the 56km Ultra, on 4 April, both finishing at the UCT Rugby Fields.
So runners, lace up, check the diary and get moving.
Because on this particular race, the first finish line is paperwork.
Miss it, and the mountain may never get the chance to break you.
Adam Lipschitz turned pre-race confidence into a record-breaking performance at the OUTsurance Gun Run Half Marathon, while Irvette van Zyl marked her return to the race with a convincing victory.
Lipschitz had made no secret of his ambition before Sunday’s 21.1km race, arriving in Cape Town determined to attack the course record.
Lipschitz, who won the Gun Run 10km in 2025, controlled the early stages with a series of fartlek-style surges before making the decisive move with about 19km remaining.
The acceleration proved decisive as he broke clear of his rivals and maintained his momentum to the finish.
Seutloali finished second in 1:02:53, with Hollywood teammate Tsépo Ramashamole completing the podium in 1:03:13.
Former Gun Run 21.1km winner Lloyd Bosman of Nedbank Running Club SWD was fourth in 1:03:28, while local athlete Anthony Timoteus finished fifth in 1:04:06.
For Lipschitz, the performance also provided valuable race-specific preparation as he continues building towards the marathon distance.
The women’s race produced another significant performance as Irvette van Zyl returned to the Gun Run Half Marathon after a seven-year absence and claimed victory in 1:14:03.
The 39-year-old Hollywood Athletics Club runner finished nearly three minutes clear of defending champion and clubmate Busisiwe Chamane, who crossed the line in 1:17:24.
Former Gun Run champion Fortunate Chidzivo of Nedbank Running Club WP was third in 1:18:23.
Van Zyl said the conditions and altered route made the race challenging.
“Today’s race was a bit tough. It was really humid because yesterday it rained,” she said.
She also had to adapt to a course that had changed significantly since her previous appearance in 2019.
“There’s a lot of up and down sidewalks and we had a bit of a cobblestone stage we actually run on,” Van Zyl said.
A two-kilometre hill also disrupted her rhythm.
“I would have hoped to run closer to 73, but I just couldn’t get my rhythm going the first 12-ish kilometres,” she said.
Her race improved after the climb, when she returned to the road and later reached the promenade.
“Overall I’m happy with today and happy with the win,” Van Zyl said.
She believes there is scope for a faster performance should she return, having now experienced the revised course.
“Hopefully when I return I can run faster than that, because then I will know what is ahead.”
The Hollywood weekend had already produced a strong result in Saturday’s 10km, where veteran Stephen Mokoka, 41, won in 29:36.
Hollywood AC veteran Stephen Mokoka won the Gun Run 10km on Saturday on debut.
Awethu Ntsotho of Athletes Academy in Boland was second in 29:49, while Eersterivier AC junior Beautin Van der Westhuizen finished third in 30:02.
Russian-born Stellenbosch-based athlete Olga Firsova, 43, won the women’s 10km in 35:17, ahead of Yandiswa Shange (38:12) and Nadia Turton (39:08).
For Lipschitz, the Gun Run provided a record to celebrate. For Van Zyl, it offered a successful return and a glimpse of faster days ahead.
Irvette van Zylreturns to the OUTsurance Gun Run this weekend after a seven-year absence, with the four-time Olympian targeting another fast performance on the Cape Town course where she produced one of the event’s most notable runs.
Van Zyl will contest Sunday’s 21.1km Half Marathon, while fellow Hollywood Athletics Clubathlete Stephen Mokoka lines up in Saturday’s 10km, where the 41-year-old veteran enters as one of the leading contenders.
Van Zyl’s last appearance at the Gun Run came in 2019, when she won the women’s half-marathon in 1:12:11.
The performance was particularly impressive given that Van Zyl had undergone significant surgery earlier that year before returning to top form.
Seven years later, she is looking forward to tackling the course again.
“I’m quite excited,” Van Zyl said.
“This is the first time I will be back running it since 2019. I knew I wanted to go back but never had the chance. So yeah, just excited everything worked out this year that I can go and run it.”
The 30-year-old knows the course well and remains fond of its combination of challenge and scenery.
“I like the route. It has a bit of a tough hill in it and yeah, it’s just nice views running it and it’s almost a great atmosphere running in Cape Town and going through C point at the finish.”
Van Zyl has set herself a realistic target rather than chasing her 2019 performance at all costs.
“I’m hoping for close to that time that I did run in 2019. So anything under 73 I’ll be very happy with, but the weather also has to play with. So we’ll see.”
For the South African marathoner, the significance of her return extends beyond the stopwatch.
“But yeah, I’m just excited to be healthy and be running and just be back after seven years of absence and really looking forward to it.”
While Van Zyl will be chasing another strong performance over 21.1km, Mokoka will be aiming to make an immediate impact on his Gun Run debut.
The former South African 10km record holder boasts a 27:38 personal best, recorded in Manchester in 2015, as well as a 59:36 half-marathon best and a 2:06 marathon personal best.
His longevity remains one of the defining features of his career. Mokoka is a four-time Olympian and has represented South Africa at five World Championships.
His 2026 season has also demonstrated that his speed remains intact, including a sub-29-minute performance at the Hollywoodbets Durban 10km.
Last year’s Gun Run 10km winner, Adam Lipschitz, has moved up to the half-marathon this year, where he will target the course record.
That leaves Mokoka as the leading name in the 10km field, although several Cape Town-based athletes will be hoping to disrupt his winning plans.
The weekend therefore offers Hollywood Athletics Club two experienced international performers with very different objectives.
For Van Zyl, it is a long-awaited return to a course where she has already left her mark.
For Mokoka, it is an opportunity to add a Gun Run victory to an already decorated distance-running career.
