Xaba aims for Half Marathon glory in Copenhagen

Glenrose Xaba has been the outstanding woman distance-running athlete in South Africa in the past five years and will be looking to add the national half marathon record to her ever-growing list of accolades at the World Road Running Championship in Copenhagen next week. At 31, Xaba is at the peak of her career, having […] The post Xaba aims for Half Marathon glory in Copenhagen appeared first on Sports Network Africa.

Sep 11, 2026 - 10:49

Xaba aims for Half Marathon glory in Copenhagen

Glenrose Xaba has been the outstanding woman distance-running athlete in South Africa in the past five years and will be looking to add the national half marathon record to her ever-growing list of accolades at the World Road Running Championship in Copenhagen next week.

At 31, Xaba is at the peak of her career, having already made the national 10km and marathon records her own.

In April this year she ran the performance of her life in terms of world ranking points with a superb 1:07:03 for third place at the Istanbul Half Marathon, just 19 seconds shy of Elana Meyer’s national record, which has stood for 27 years.

That performance was rated as 1191 points, just two more than her 2:22:22 marathon national record in Cape Town in 2024.

When Meyer raced to 1:06:44 in Tokyo in 1999, she had already pocketed the gold medal at the 1994 World Half Marathon Championships and was still one of the best in the world over that distance, an indication of the magnitude of Xaba’s task in Denmark.

Glenrose Xaba wins the 2024 Sanlam Cape Town Marathon in one of the best performances in South Africa athletics history. Photo – Johann Minnaar

“My preparations for the World Champs are going very well,” Xaba related. “So far, I can’t complain about anything! I didn’t go anywhere special to train, I just did my training with my group where I am based in Pretoria.

“The fitness is there,” Xaba continued. “I’m wishing to have a great race, with a healthy body on the day of the race. I am hoping to do very well and improve on my performance at the World Champs in 2023 (where Xaba placed 12^th in 1:09:47 at Riga, Latvia).

“I will be happy to finish inside the top 10.”

Xaba’s teammate in Latvia, Cacisile Sosibo, finished just ahead of Xaba three years back, finishing 10^th in 1:09:31, but unlike Xaba, she has not improved on her time. Sosibo will be hoping for another ‘out of body’ day in Copenhagen.

With athletes from 85 federations plus the World Athletics Athlete Refugee Team (ART), the high entry figures demonstrate the strength and appeal of the event for federations across the globe.

A total of 270 men and 226 women have been named for the championships in the Danish capital, where global titles in the road mile, 5km and half marathon are up for grabs.

Agnes Ngetich of Kenya – top of the podium at this year’s World Cross Country Championships. Can she make it a double gold in Copenhagen? Photo – World Athletics

For world 10km record-holder Agnes Ngetich, Copenhagen provides a second platform to win a world title following her world cross-country gold medal she won in Tallahassee, USA, in January. She will contest the half marathon, an event in which she holds the Kenyan record of 1:03:04 – a time that places her second on the world all-time list.

She will line up alongside Ethiopia’s Tsigie Gebreselama, who finished fourth at the last edition of the World Road Running Championships in Riga in 2023.

African athletes once again head the rankings going into the championships, with Kenyans Nicholas Kipokorir (personal best time of 58:08) and Gideon Rono (58:38) and Ethiopian Tadese Worku (58:59) the fastest three of the championships. Six of the fastest ten runners are from Africa.

Ngetich heads the women’s list with her best of 1:03:04 28 seconds clear of her teammate, Lilian Rengeruk (1:03:32). Ethiopia’s Tsigie Gebreselama and Ftaw Zeray (1:04:21 and 1:05:12 respectively) are the third and fourth fastest in the field.

Seven out of the fastest ten (and the top six) in the women’s competition are from Africa, with Xaba’s time of 1:07:03 the 11^th fastest.

Fastest Men contesting the Half Marathon in the World Road Running Championships

58:08 Nicholas Kipkorir Kenya

58:38 Gideon Kipkertich Rono

58:47 Tadese Worku Ethiopia

59:01 Yemaneberhan Crippa Italy

59:04 Daniel Simiu Ebenyo Kenya

59:11 Alex Nzioka Matata Kenya

59:27 Etienne Daguinos France

59:43 Bereket Nega Ethiopia

59:45 Jimmy Gressier France

59:49 Rory Linkletter Canada