Glenrose Xaba ready for her first standard marathon race in Cape Town

As the national half-marathon champion and 10km record holder, Xaba is set to make her marathon debut at the Cape Town Marathon on the weekend of 19-20 October, joining a field of elite runners.

Having secured victories in seven 10km races, including the national half-marathon title, the 29-year-old feels ready to transition to the standard marathon distance.

"I am running my first marathon to see how I can do in the future because you can't stay in the 10ks and 21km because you are getting older. I want to be like Faith Chepngetich Kipyegon, the woman that won the many marathons and was successful, even now she's still running. So, she motivates me to just see how I can do in marathons so that in future I can focus in marathons," Xaba said.

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Xaba is confident in her preparation for her marathon debut and feels she has put in the necessary work to fully enjoy the experience in the Mother City.

Xaba opted to skip the Hollywoodbets 10km race over the weekend, despite being the favourite to win South Africa's richest 10km event to emphasize her focus on marathon preparation.

Her decision reflects a careful strategy to avoid over-racing as she gears up for the marathon.

"Unfortunately, I did go to the Hollywoodbets race, I just want to keep on training, you can't race week after week because the race was so close. I was racing on Saturday then again on Tuesday so I need to train. I can't skip my long runs because I need the long runs for marathon. So, I'm just focusing on Spar and Cape Town Marathon now," she added.