'We can push together' - Oldknow and Xaba target SA Record as Xaba makes 42,2km debut at Sanlam Cape Town Marathon

Moments after winning her maiden SA senior women's 10km Cross Country title on Saturday (7 September, 2024), Cian Oldknow revealed that she is in shape to improve on her 2:25:08 marathon best before the end of the year. Yesterday organisers of the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon unveiled a star-studded lineup of elite athletes which includes Oldknow and SA 10km record holder Glenrose Xaba as they boldly declared that the two have an eye on Gerda Steyn's 2:24:03 national record.

"I would like to," was Oldknow’s response when asked by #TheTopRunner about the possibility of running a new lifetime best in The Mother City. "I think it depends on how I'm feeling that week. I'll just take it as it comes. I'm not sure if I'll quite be in PB shape by then. We could use the race (Cape Town) as training towards another marathon near the end of the year and definitely try and go for another personal best there. So I’m hoping to set another personal best some time this year in the marathon."

Oldknow, Xaba and Cacisile Sosibo working together during an ASA Championship race. They will aim to do the same at the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon. Photo Credit: ASA Media.

The 42,2km race in The Mother City on 20 October will be the Hollywood Athletic Club top runner's fifth marathon of the year. She made her debut over the distance in January at the Johnson Crane Marathon in Benoni - an eye-catching 2:39 performance at altitude which was followed by Olympic qualification in Sevilla in February, victory at the Durban International Marathon incorporating the ASA Marathon Championships in April and the Olympic Marathon last month where she finished as the first South African. That workload notwithstanding, the 27-year-old says because of an injury layoff which forced her to rest, she still feels fresh enough to run two more marathons before the end of 2024.

"I think getting injured after the SA Marathon Championships and taking five weeks off running helped us a little bit to have a rest. That was an unfortunate one, but I think it really did help because I had five weeks of no running and one week of full rest which was not ideal going into the Paris Olympics. But coming out of that I'm really motivated because I think I had a great race in Paris which made me think that if I could do that with the work I put in then I have a lot more still to come."

Oldknow in action during the Olympic Marathon in Paris where she finished in 2:30:29 to take 32nd position. Photo Credit: Supplied.

Oldknow then will be hoping that the race against Xaba will push her to new heights, while Xaba herself gets to grips with her first foray over the standard marathon distance. As the fastest SA woman over 10km (31:12) and the third fastest local half marathon athlete of all time (1:08:37), much is expected of her. But rather than shoulder weight of running the SA Record expectation alone, SuperCharger will rely on the likes of Oldknow saying that the key to success in long distance running lies in team work.

"I would be very happy if I could run with someone and we could push together. I think do much better. Kenyans run together and help each other that’s why they run fast times. It’s because they run together and they are many. We are few and I think our girls are scared to go very fast from the beginning."