‘Safety comes first’ as Cape Town 10K race cancelled due to severe weather

The Absa ‘Run Your City’ 10k race, which was set to take place on Sunday in Cape Town, has been cancelled due to “severe adverse weather conditions”.

“After consulting with the City of Cape Town authorities, local authorities, and the appointed safety officials, [we] have made the difficult decision to cancel the event scheduled to take place on Sunday, 10 May,” read the statement by the race’s staging partner, Stillwater Sports.

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The South African Weather Services released an Orange level five warning, which indicates a high likelihood of disruptive weather causing significant impacts, such as heavy rain potentially leading to flooding, damaging winds (100-120km/h), or heavy snowfall set for the weekend.

“Following close on the heels of a prolonged period of adverse weather conditions associated with a cut-off low weather system, a strong cold front is expected to make landfall over the Western Cape on Sunday afternoon before progressing eastwards along the southern parts of the country.”

The South African Weather Service advised the Disaster Risk Management Centre of the following weather warning for the period Sunday, 10 May 2026 to Tuesday, 12 May 2026: pic.twitter.com/EYxra1yxHa

The race was highly anticipated, largely for the renewal of a budding rivalry between South Africa’s elite runners Glenrose Xaba and Tayla Kavanagh.

Kavanagh pipped Xaba to the line at March’s Spar Grand Prix 10km race in Cape Town in a shock result, finishing five seconds faster in 31:33.

Xaba led for most of the race before Kavanagh outkicked her in the final 200 metres.

Following the 10k race cancellation, the duo will have to wait to continue their