Impressive Repeat Wins for Hendricks and Kavanagh in 10km Peace Run at Sanlam Cape Town Marathon

Windy conditions may have slowed things down in the first half of the 2025 Sanlam Peace Run 10km on Saturday, 18 October, but that same wind then pushed the athletes all the way home in the second half. This not only helped Deon-Lee Hendricks and Tayla Kavanagh successfully defend their 2024 titles, but Hendricks posted his best time in this race, while Kavanagh shattered her personal best by 16 seconds as she posted the fastest 10km time by a South African woman this year!

The Peace Run 10km forms part of a full weekend of racing at the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon, which will be run on Sunday, 19 October. In total, this year’s marathon, Peace Run 10km and 5km events, and the three Trail Runs boast a combined total of 41,000 entrants, with the 10km selling out all 11,000 entries well before its closing date, and approximately 3500 taking part in the Peace Run 5km, with a large contingent of Sanlam staff in the mix.

“Seeing more than 2000 Sanlam employees from across the continent take part in this year’s Peace Run is a powerful reflection of what confidence in action truly looks like. As a business deeply rooted in Africa, we believe confidence is built through community, by showing up for one another and moving forward together,” says Shadi Chauke, Group Executive: Corporate Affairs and Sustainability at Sanlam. “Our people embody that spirit every time they step up to the start line, echoing our call for African Champions to Unite. Their participation is about more than running; it’s about unity and a shared belief that small steps, taken together, can create lasting impact for ourselves, our communities, and our continent.”

Repeat Winner Hendricks

In 2024, Hendricks took the win here in 29:50, having finished fourth in 2023 with a time of 29:53, and 12^th in 2022 in 31:12. Today, he clocked a substantially quicker 29:27, extending his impressive record in the Peace Run. “This is such a high-profile race, so winning it twice in a row is really a blessing,” says Hendricks. “I know this course can be really fast if the wind is not there, but today we had to start slower because of the wind, and that meant we did over 15 minutes for the first half and under 14 minutes for the second half. I came here today to do my best, give it my all to defend my title, so I am blessed.”

Second over the line was Luan Munnik in 29:39, with Bruce-Lynn Damons third in 29:55. The top five positions were rounded out by Angelo Booysen (29:59) in fourth place, and Dylan van der Merwe was fifth in 30:15. Munnik is a Potchefstroom-based track specialist who is just beginning to branch into road running, and has already posted some notable wins on the road at shorter mile and 5km distances. However, today’s result ranks as one of his most impressive to date.

“This was my first time here, and what a crazy experience, nothing like being on the track, but it was great to be part of this,” says Munnik. “The first five kays were tactical, but then Bruce-Lynn pushed the pace, and after that Deon-Lee and I went to the front. It was in the last mile that he got away from me, but it was a nice experience running on the road with such competitive guys.”

Scintillating Kavanagh

Having only recently broken through the 32-minute barrier with a 31:53 personal best in August in Durban, Kavanagh came to Cape Town determined to improve on that mark. This saw her management team organise an official pacesetter for her, none other than SA Olympian on the track with a sub-28-minute 10km to his name, Ryan Mphahlele.

Kavanagh and Mphahlele have been team mates before, both representing SA at the 2023 World Road Running Champs in Riga, Latvia, and their teamwork today helped Kavanagh bring her best time down to 31:37. This moves her to 11^th place on the all-time list of 10km times run by South African women, with only Glenrose Xaba, Elana Meyer and Colleen De Reuck having ever gone faster.

“Today I really wanted to go for the win again, because last year was such a great race, with great support out there, and I had a lot of fun again. I think the more fun you have, the faster you run,” says Kavanagh. “Even though it was a bit windy out there, I just tried to focus on my plan, which was to go out and run hard today, and I am super happy with the way I was able to execute that. Fortunately, I had Ryan to help me, and I was able to stick to him and run the time that I thought my form said I could.”

The women’s podium was rounded off by Carina Viljoen coming home second in 33:02, followed by 2022 winner of this race, Irvette van Zyl, in 33:29. Fourth place went to Kyla Jacobs in 33:57, with Cian Oldknow claiming fifth in 34:35. Another impressive fact about this top five is that all the women in the top five have represented South Africa on the world stage, at various World Championships or Olympics, and the class of the field shone through despite the windy conditions.

Still, it was Kavanagh who deserves all the plaudits, says second-placed Viljoen. “Luckily, I heard what Tayla was aiming for today, so I knew I had to let her do her thing and just focus on my own race. I was second here last year as well, so I felt I had an idea of the course, but every race is different, and I really had fun. It was slightly windy out there, in your face on the way out but then behind your back later, so it was both helpful and not helpful, and there was an extra little hill that I wasn’t anticipating, but it went well and I’m really happy with another second here.”

Peace Run 10km Results

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Women:

Peace Run 5km Results

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Women: