Taylor Kavanagh sets her sights on the World Champs after winning Durban 10km

Kavanagh won the sold-out race, which attracted 15 000 runners, in 31:39 to pocket R40 000 in Africa’s highest-paying 10km event. 

Her Hollywood Athletics Club teammate Neheng Khatala finished second in 32:01, while Boxer Running Club’s Karabo More was third in 33:01.

Despite windy conditions, Kavanagh enjoyed the flat course and is now looking forward to representing South Africa in the 5km event in Denmark.

"So, I am heading to the World Championships for the 5km in about two and a half weeks. I'm really excited to tackle the 5km on the road and have a good battle out there. I am eager to see what I can accomplish and what we can achieve together. So, that's my next goal, and I'll be focusing on that in the upcoming weeks leading up to it . I am really excited for this one; it's in Copenhagen, so I'm looking forward to how fast we can run over 5km," said Kavanagh.

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The 25-year-old Durban-born runner described her first victory in a race organised by her club as a special moment.

Her win came despite an early setback when she was tripped by a male runner after about 3km. 

Kavanagh picked herself up and continued racing before powering to victory.

The national 5km and 10km champion also received a heartfelt apology from the runner who tripped her.

Kavanagh accepted the apology gracefully, even embracing him at the finish line. The incident cost her valuable time as she chased Glenrose Xaba’s South African 10km record of 31:12.

Kavanagh, who has won back-to-back Spar Women’s 10km races this year, says she is enjoying the freedom of coaching herself.

The national champion believes self-coaching is working well for her and has played a big role in what is turning into a breakthrough season.

Kavanagh is pleased with her consistency this season and is not putting pressure on herself to immediately break the national 10km record.

She believes she is getting closer and says the record will come when the time is right.