Tayla Kavanagh is cementing her place as one of SA’s best runners

Even when she was still a budding ­athlete at St Mary’s Diocesan School for Girls in Kloof, Durban, Tayla Kavanagh’s immense talent as a road runner was present for all to see.

Back then, she participated in just about every sport offered at the school, but her running abilities stood out. Fast-forward to today and the 25-year-old is pacing towards her full potential with each race.

Kavanagh showed glimpses of this potential last year after battling with serious injuries in 2023 and 2024, when she nursed setbacks such as a stress fracture that kept her sidelined for months. When she eventually recovered from that, she was dealt another setback with a knee injury, which also sidelined her for a lengthy period.

But in 2025, the long-distance runner managed three first places on the podium as she pushed her body more and more after fully recovering from those injuries. Not only did she successfully defend her title in the Sanlam Peace Run 10km in Cape Town in October, she improved her personal best by 16 seconds and set the fastest time by a South African woman for the year: 31 minutes and 41 seconds.

Electric start to 2026

In the first quarter of 2026, Kavanagh put an exclamation mark on her comeback with more stellar performances. In March, she completed the Spar Women’s 10km Challenge in Cape Town in 31:33, chopping eight seconds off her October personal best. And then, in April, came her incredible double gold at the South African Senior Track and Field Championships in Stellenbosch.

Already SA’s reigning champion in the 10km on the road, she took her expertise to the track and claimed gold in the event. She also fended off competition in the 5km to claim this track title, too. What made these victories sweeter for Kavanagh was that they came out of her comfort zone, which is the road.

In the shorter distance, she ran a personal best in a time of 14:58.52. With this impressive result, she became just the third South African woman to break the 15-minute barrier, joining South African long-distance running greats Elana Meyer and Dominique Scott in the exclusive club.

“I’m incredibly happy with how this year has gone so far,” Kavanagh said. “In 2025, I put down a few good, solid performances. Going into 2026, I’ve been trying to really continue the consistency that I managed last year and continue to build off that. I’m in a really happy space, and I always say to myself a happy athlete is a fast athlete.

“I’m incredibly happy with how my performances went at SA Champs. I was really hoping to get the win for both the 5km and the 10km. I was looking forward to racing on the track. I haven’t done a lot of racing on the track before.

“So, this year it was my first national champs for both the 5km and the 10km. I’ve done the shorter distance before, but doubling in the 5km and the 10km was new to me. And it was quite a short turnaround with the races one day apart, so it was all about getting some good recovery in between them.

“But I’m really happy to walk away with a gold medal for both events. I’m just really happy with how I executed both races, and I feel grateful and blessed,” Kavanagh added.

She said that dipping below 15 minutes at the national championships was something she did not expect.

“I was just so thrilled that I was able to do that, even though it came to me as such a shock.”

It’s also the perfect confidence-booster as Kavanagh aims even higher for the rest of 2026 and beyond. One of her immediate tasks will be the Cape Town leg of the Run Your City 10km race, which takes place on Sunday, 10 May. Beyond that, she has her eyes set on the global stage.

In September, Copenhagen will host the World Athletics Road Running Championships – and that’s Kavanagh’s biggest target for 2026. Every memorable performance she has at home will be fuel for what she hopes will be a historic appearance in Denmark.

Dedication and discipline

Kavanagh is self-coached, a decision she says is one of the secrets behind her great form since returning from injury.

“The reason I coach myself is that I’ve found a formula that works for me. And I’ve always said to myself that as an athlete you’ve got to do what works best for you and your body,” she explained.

It’s an undertaking that requires serious discipline and dedication to one’s craft. But according to Hollywood Athletics Club manager Manfred Seidler, Kavanagh possesses the perfect mentality and discipline to succeed at the highest level, even without a coach.

“I watched Tayla dominate a quality field in 2021 at the SA 10km Championships as a 19-year-old, securing her first senior national title. Even before that achievement, it was clear that she is an exceptional talent. She is incredibly determined and disciplined,” Seidler said.

“Over the past few years, while navigating injury, she remained focused and committed to her craft. For any athlete, working through injury requires resilience, and the longer the recovery journey, the more it tests one’s confidence.

“Tayla embraced that journey, experienced its many emotions, and emerged stronger – true signs of a champion. At 25 she is hitting standards that many athletes only achieve in their late twenties or early thirties. The club and I truly believe that Tayla will go from strength to strength, and there is still a lot more to come.

“Her support system is strong, with her parents playing a vital role. This foundation allows her to stay focused on achieving these high standards. With that support, along with the backing of the Hollywood Athletics Club, we can expect to see even more from Tayla in the future.”

Kavanagh also draws inspiration from her fellow road-running competitor, friend and role model, Glenrose Xaba. The 31-year-old has been one of SA’s most consistent and successful long-distance runners over the past few years.

According to Kavanagh, the prospect of one day surpassing Xaba’s achievements, as well as those of ­running great Meyer, is the perfect motivation for her future ambitions of shattering records.

Other than that, she doesn’t look too much to the outside for inspiration, a philosophy she adopted when she was still at school. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly DM168 newspaper, available countrywide for R35.