Xaba, Nose stand out for Team SA on day two in Copenhagen

Glenrose Xaba and Cwenga Nose were the best of the South Africans on the second day of the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Xaba finished 13th in 1:07:49 in the women's half-marathon race, achieving the second-fastest time of her career. Further back, Cacisile Sosibo was 70th across the line in 1:04:00, and Xaba's training partner Karabo Mailula was one position further back, taking 71st place in a career best 1:14:21.

"I came to the race with a positive mindset to try run a PB and to maybe go sub-67, but it was not the day for that and I will try next time. I'm just a bit disappointed that I came number 13 but I'm glad I was able to have a good race," said Xaba, who had finished 12th at the previous edition of the global championships in Riga in 2023.

"The pace was good for me, but I started alone. I pushed a lot and at 13km I caught the second group, so I think I used a lot of energy to do that, but I learned from that after having a poor start."

In the men's half-marathon, Nose took 22nd place, setting a career best of 1:01:09. His compatriot, Elroy Gelant, settled for 87th position in 1:04:41, and SA champion Ngconde Matwebu was unable to finish the 21km race.

"The race was hard, I don't want to lie, from start to finish. It was the hardest race of my life, but I'm happy because I ran a PB and it was my first time being at the World Championships, so I gained experience," Nose said.

Gelant, the national marathon record holder and the most experienced member of the national team, felt the SA squad had performed well throughout the two-day championships.

"Overall, if we look at the mile, the 5km and the half-marathon, the team really did well, so I'm really proud of South Africa," Gelant said. "And if you look at our team we've got a very young team, and I think that's really great working towards the next World Championships."