Some of Southern Africa’s top athletes will turn out in Cape Town on Friday night at the Cape Milers Club ASA Grand Prix meeting taking place at Green Point Stadium.
We take a look at three races which could produce fireworks.
10 000m women
With the meeting hosting the SA 10 000m Championships, all eyes will be on Glenrose Xaba in the women’s race over 25 laps.
Already holding the national 10km and marathon records on the road, she might be able to have a crack at Elana Meyer’s long-standing national 10 000m record of 30:52.51.
She is not expected to have much competition from the rest of the field, and Xaba should have no problem defending her SA title, so the only question left is: How fast can she run?
It’s unclear whether she’ll have a pace setter, but it’s unlikely in a national championship race, and Xaba might have to go solo from the start.
She is incredibly tough, however, as she proved on her marathon debut in Cape Town last year, and if the weather plays its part she could give Meyer’s mark a real shake.
The battle for the silver medal could be close, in a field which includes consistent athlete Cacisile Sosibo, as well as Xaba’s training partners Karabo Mailula and Karabo Motsoeneng.
1 500m men
Of all the races on the cards at Green Point Stadium, the men’s 1 500m event promises to be the most exciting.
In recent years we’ve seen some awesome battles between Tshepo Tshite and Ryan Mphahlele at these Cape Milers meetings, and we can expect much of the same this weekend.
This year, however, they won’t be alone, and they’ll also have to deal with a challenge from Botswana’s Tshepiso Masalela, who reached the Olympic final in Paris last year.
In addition, the field features Maxime Chaumeton, though he might be better known as a road runner these days, and it’ll be interesting to see if he still has the speed in his legs to put up a fight.
800m men
Ketlhobogile Haingura of Botswana will line up as the favourite in the men’s two-lap race.
Haingura, who earned the silver medal at the African Championships last year, has already displayed fine form this season, clocking 1:43.88 at the ASA Grand Prix meeting at UJ Stadium last month.
He will fancy his chances of picking up another win, but he will have to beat the likes of his compatriot Tumo Nkape, as well as local favourites Edmund du Plessis (South Africa’s top 800m runner) and Renier de Villiers.
* Featured image of Glenrose Xaba by Reg Caldecott
