Xaba and Kavanagh ready to fly the flag at World Half-Marathon

The pair, who have pushed each other in domestic races in the colours of Boxer Running Club and Hollywood Athletics Club, will now swap their club colours for the green and gold, with Xaba competing in the half-marathon and Kavanagh lining up in the 5km race.

The Boxer athlete is also using the race as part of her preparations to qualify for next year’s World Senior Championships in Beijing in the marathon.

“I have set myself a goal for the half-marathon and that is to run a fast time. Part of my goal is to try and break my own half-marathon national record. I also want to qualify for the World Champs next year. Since the beginning of the year, I have always wanted to take part in the championships.”

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Xaba, who has a personal best of 1 hour, 10 minutes and 03 seconds, heads to Copenhagen full of confidence after finishing second at the Run Your City Tshwane 10km.

She believes she has done enough preparation and is ready to give her best on Sunday.

Kavanagh will compete in the 5km as the reigning national champion. 

She heads into the race with confidence after winning the Hollywoodbets Durban 10km in her last outing.

 The Hollywood Athletics Club runner says she wants to enjoy the experience, run a personal best and test herself against a strong international field.

“Firstly, I just want to enjoy myself and run a PB and then the rest will take care of itself. I want to get used to more international races this year in the build-up to the Olympic Games. I am not putting too much pressure on myself, but I want to push harder.”

Kavanagh will remain in Europe for another race after the World Championships. This means she, like Xaba will not return to South Africa to compete in next week’s Spar Women’s 10km Challenge in Gqeberha.