Ethiopian runner Tadu Nare continued her impressive form when running in the streets of South Africa. She produced a time of 31:26 to win the Spar Women's Durban 10k race on Sunday.

Nare's country woman Selam Gebre followed with 31:37 in second place, and Glenrose Xaba finished third in a personal best time of 31:55.

What left joy to the South African athletics community is that Xaba's time was the third fastest ever over the distance, behind only Colleen de Reuck (31:26) and the legendary Elana Meyer's record 31:13 set in 2001.

She also became the country's fourth woman to dip under 32 minutes over the distance after Meyer, De Reuck and Dominique Scott.

The race is a six-legged event which forms part of the Grand Prix with Johannesburg, Pretoria, Gqeberha, Cape Town and Mbombela making up the other races.

The Grand Prix carries a whopping R200,000 cash prize for the overall winner.

Speaking at the press conference after the race, 22-year-old Nare, who came eighth in this year's London Marathon in a good time of 2:21:31, said it is always a privilege to run in the streets of South Africa and she's happy with today's effort.

"I'm happy with the way I ran today. The route here was kinda flat so I didn't struggle much with it. The race was so fast and, in the end, I produced a very good time," Nare said.

"I always love to run in the streets of South Africa. The support I get here is exceptional. So I'm always happy to come and run here, time and again."

Meanwhile Xaba, who was the first South African to cross the line, believes there are more good performances waiting for her. This year, the reigning SA 10,000m champion broke her personal best three times.

"I think I'm in great shape this year. As you may remember, last year I struggled with injuries but I have managed to overcome that and I believe I can run faster this year."

The race drew over 10,000 runners for the 10km and 5km races.