'It's all about patience and trusting the process' - Kavanagh becomes fifth SA woman to break 32 mins

In a groundbreaking Totalsports Durban women's race where Christine Njoki produced the fastest time ever run by a woman on African soil (30:14) and the top ten ladies ran inside 33:09, Tayla Kavanagh shone with a memorable performance. Kavanagh took fifth overall in a personal best time 31:53 to become only the fifth South African woman after Colleen de Reuck, Elana Meyer, Dominique Scott and Glenrose Xaba to run under 32 minutes for 10km. Speaking to #TheTopRunner after the race, the pleased 23-year-old said she felt that the sub 32 minute clocking had been a long time coming. 

"I'm super happy with the performance. Coming into the race, I believed in what I had done in the training. I knew it was going to be a fast race, so I made use of it. The field was strong so we were always going push each other, which we did," said the elated Hollywood Athletics Club elite athlete - who crossed the finish line together with her teammate Neheng Khatala who set a new Lesotho national record of 31:53.

Kavangh on route to breaking 32 minutes for the first time at the 2025 Totalsports Women's Race Durban. Photo Credit: Cuan Walker.

"The last couple of races, I have been telling everyone that I'm building consistency. I kinda knew from training that I'm in good shape. My target was trying to run a low 32 minutes time today, so to be able to go beyond that is so good."

Since Kavanagh burst onto the scene with a 32:10 performance to win the inaugural Absa RUN YOUR CITY DURBAN 10K four years ago, the Durban resident has experienced injuries which have haunted her progress. This year she made a strong comeback breaking 33 minutes twice in the Absa DURBAN 10K (32:52) and the Durban leg of the SPAR Grand Prix (32:32).

Running tandem Khatala and Kavanagh recorded national records and personal bests respectively. Photo Credit: Anthony Grote.

"I think my performance today is a reminder to everyone that no matter what you are going through you can get out of that hardship. It's all about patience and trusting the process. It’s also about knowing where your talent lies. I always knew that I'm capable of breaking that personal best time. So to be able to do it today, is the cherry on top."

Kavanagh will now turn her focus to the Pietermaritzburg leg of the SPAR Women's race on August 17 where she is aiming for a hat-trick of victories after winning the race in 2024 and 2023. 

"I have decided not to run Totalsports Women's Race Cape Town because I needed to run fast time in Durban today. Since I have done that I'm going to rest a bit- so I'm going for the SPAR Pietermaritzburg leg which is a local race for me. I won the race for the past two years now so I'm hoping to extend my winning streak there. Afterwards, I'm going to run Hollywood Durban 10k race," she concluded.