Kavanagh leads SA charge in 'quickest' 10km Women's Challenge in Durban

Tayla Kavanagh will be one of the contenders leading the South African challenge in the third in the series of Spar Women's 10km Challenge Grand Prix races in Durban on Sunday.

It is a foregone conclusion that the competition for places in the top six will be fierce and, because the beachfront course is super-fast, the likelihood of very fast times means that this could be one of the quickest 10km races in South Africa's history.

Kavanagh is full of confidence after she produced a great performance in Athletics South Africa's (ASA) 5km Championships in Johannesburg last weekend.

The 22-year-old from Hillcrest in Durban crossed the finish line next to the FNB Stadium in Nasrec at 1600 m above sea level in a blistering 16 minutes and 45 seconds and was crowned the SA 5km champion in the process.

This means that she automatically qualified for the 5km World Championships which takes place later this year from 30 September to 1 October in Riga in Latvia.

"Last week's performance gave my confidence a huge boost as I suffered a very bad injury at the end of last year," Kavanagh said on Friday.

"I used my last two races to make a comeback. I am just very grateful to be healthy enough to compete again and am really looking forward to competing against the international women.

"The Ethiopian women set a very high standard. It's always nice to have them there because it's a challenge for us. I consider it as a great opportunity for us as South African women to compete against them, because it brings out the best in us and helps us to accelerate the pace and push us to the limits. So, I think there will definitely be fast times run on Sunday."

Earlier this year, Kavanagh moved from Durban to Johannesburg, where she is currently training