It was a busy weekend for Tuks's Aynslee van Graan on Saturday as she won gold as well as bronze medals during the South African Cross Country Championships while on Sunday she was caught totally unaware when she had to attend a kitchen tea. Her own.

The lessons Van Graan learned earlier this year during the World Cross Country Championships in Denmark stood her to good stead during the 10km race in Centurion.

"I knew the defending champion, Glenrose Xaba, and Kesa Molotsane was going to be the main protagonists in our race. They did not disappoint. It was clear from Xaba's very first stride that she has no intentions of relinquishing her national title.

"The race got off to a seriously fast pace. Kesa Molotsane immediately took up the challenge but eventually she was not able to stick and dropped off. I realised quite early on that it would be 'suicide' if I tried to keep up with them, so I focussed on running my own race.

"My sister, Kayla, turned out to be the other most serious challenger to the bronze medal. It was pure pride that motivated me to stay in front of her."

Xaba crossed the line in 34:25, 45 seconds ahead of perennial rival Molotsane, who was second in 35:10. Closing out the podium, Van Graan held on to take the third position covering the course in 35:56.

The Tuks athlete is excited about how her race played out as it is her best time ever for a 10km cross country race. Another impressive statistic was that she improved by two positions. Last year she finished fifth at the national championships.

The result means she is in line to represent South Africa next year at the African Cross Country Championships. 

Later the Saturday afternoon she went on to win the four-kilometre cross country race which meant she so nearly got to duplicate her feat of winning two gold medals during the same championships. Van Graan won the 4km and 10km races at the Gauteng North Championships. 

On Sunday her sister, Kayla, caused a big surprise when she lured Van Graan to attend a party. Only when she got there, she realised that she was the maid of honour as it was her kitchen tea. She is getting married on 13 December. 

Van Graan vowed that becoming a "Mrs" is not going to change her running ambitions. She still has her sights set on representing South Africa at least at one more World Championships preferably two - cross country and track and field.