'It's been a great year!' - Boxer AC boss Swanepoel unpacks 10km dominance in 2024
As the most dominant 10km club in South Africa, the Boxer Athletic Club enjoyed another successful season. The club took eight of the fifteen men’s podium positions on offer during the five Absa RUN YOUR CITY Series 10km races, while Glenrose Xaba dominated women’s 10km running in 2024. Not only did SuperCharge set a new SA 10km record of 31:12, she also won the SPAR Grand Prix becoming the first South African to do so since foreign athletes were allowed to participate in 2019.
And it's not just Xaba that performed well in the country's most prestigious women’s only 10km series. Boxer top runners took six of the nine podium positions in the overall age group (40+, 50+ and 60+) standings, while in the senior category four (Xaba, Cacisile Sosibo, Lebo Phalula and Lebogang Phalula) of the final top ten positions went to the red of Boxer. The club’s National Manager Rhyn Swanepoel says their 10km dominance in an ultramarathon mad nation is no accident.
"Personally, I cannot watch a 5-day cricket test or the entire Comrades Marathon. It’s too long,” he smiled. “For me things must happen and it must be done and finish," he said explaining their decision to focus on recruiting 10km, 21km and track athletes.
The club now boasts Olympians such as Elroy Gelant and Precious Mashele, while the likes of Kabelo Mulaudzi and Chris Mhlanga represented South Africa at the World Cross Country Championships in Serbia this year. Swanepoel reveals that this is what motivates his recruitment strategy, which is all about helping to develop athletes that will go on to wear the green and gold at the highest level.
"The other thing that we've done that I don’t think any of the other clubs have done is that we have stuck with South African only. In the beginning we had a few Zimbabwean athletes and Helalia Johannes (Namibia), but in about 2006/2007 we made the conscious decision to support South African athletes. I'm passionate about representing the country. I want the athlete to have the same feeling. To go to the Olympics is the ultimate. To go to World Champs is special. So we want them to have that feeling."
Ultimately, none of this would be possible without the support of their shoe and apparel partner PUMA as well as the Durban-based retail giant which has been the club's financial backer since its inception two decades ago. "Boxer SuperStores have been sponsoring this club for twenty years and '’ve been with them since 1990, so we have an understanding. I think that’s afforded the club the opportunity to send all the athletes to the races. They have been the best support we’ve ever had. It’s been a great effort. It's been a great year!"
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