While South African 10km and 5km champion Taylor Kavanagh is planning to improve her personal best of 31:26 when she lines up for the Hollywoodbets 10km race in Durban on Sunday, she says she will be cautious because of the windy conditions expected on the day.
Kavanagh has been in good form this year after winning back-to-back Spar 10km races in Cape Town and Durban.
The 25-year-old also clocked a personal best of 14:58.49 in her 5,000m debut at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow earlier this month. As she shifts her focus to the Hollywoodbets race at Kingsmead Stadium, she is worried about the wind but says she will try her best.
“We will take the conditions into account and just give your best regardless,” Kavanagh said.
“The confidence this year has made me race more without fear, which has been a quiet steppingstone for me. I think previously, I was nervous to take it out, but definitely this year I managed to gain confidence. On Sunday, I would like to run faster, but like I said, the weather is not fantastic, so you really have to take it into account because you don’t want to spend your energy fighting the wind and then you have nothing left.
“You have to take that into account, but I will take the weather into account and see how it goes. But it is good to aim for a good target.”
About 15,000 runners are expected to take to the streets of Durban with the race to start outside Kingsmead Stadium at 7.30am and will finish inside the venue.
Having run 31:40 three times already this year, Kavanagh said consistency has been key to her success, and she is happy with where she is.
“It has been a fruitful year for me so far. I enjoyed a track season, and I think I enjoyed it more than I thought. It was really good, and I really tried to focus on consistency this year, and that leads to confidence, and confidence makes your race better,” she said.
“So, yeah, it has been really a good year for me so far, and I’m in an era of enjoying my running on the track and on the road, so I’m looking forward to racing this weekend, seeing what I can do and putting my best foot forward, and I’m just really excited for Sunday morning.
“My aim is to go out there and continue to put on a good performance, and I really hope I can continue doing so.”
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