ROAD RUNNING
Leading from the
Front
An elated Maxime Chaumeton runs the fastest 10km ever by a South African on home soil at the 2022 Absa RUN YOUR CITY Durban 10K
After a brilliant 2022 , including a scintillating 10km performance in Durban in July , Maxime Chaumeton ends the year in the form of his life and looking forward to doing still better in 2023 . With his frontrunning style and forthright confidence , this young athlete appears to have both the talent and the mindset to really make a name for himself on the world stage . – BY MANFRED SEIDLER
On 10 July this year , an elated Maxime Chaumeton made history when he became the first South African to run 10km in under 28 minutes on South African soil , as he finished fourth overall and first South African in the 2022 Absa RUN YOUR CITY Durban 10K . His 27:58 finish saw him smash his previous best by a massive 32 seconds , and moved him into equal fourth place on the SA all-time list . Only Stephen Mokoka ( 27:38 ), Shadrack Hoff ( 27:50 ) and Matthews Motshwarateu ( 27:54 ) have run faster , while Gert Thys also clocked a best of 27:58 . ( Only
Stephen ’ s SA Record 27:38 and Maxime ’ s 27:58 were run on a non-aided , record-legal course .)
There had been signs that something big was coming … The previous October , in the same race , which doubled as the 2021 SA 10km Championships , Maxime ’ s aggressive front-running saw him race clear of a star-studded field of SA men , opening a 20-metre gap early on . He was caught again by halfway , but stayed in the lead group of five until the 9km mark , when his young legs were not yet up to matching the surge thrown in by Stephen and Precious Mashele .
It was Precious who claimed the national title in a personal best 28:11 , followed by Stephen in 28:15 , and Maxime had to settle for fifth in a new personal best 28:30 .
Seven months later it was a very different story . The 2022 RUN YOUR CITY Durban race took place just two days before Maxime ’ s 22nd birthday , and he seemed determined to give himself a great start to the
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