ROAD RUNNING
Exciting Times Ahead !
Precious Mashele ’ s scintillating 27:35 posted in Gqeberha shot him up from ninth place to the top of the list of all-time SA performances over 10km , and took the SA Record away from Stephen Mokoka , who had held it since 2015 . Meanwhile , Thabang Mosiako ’ s performance in Gqeberha moved him up to fourth on the list .
1 27:35 Lesiba Precious Mashele Gqeberha , SA 2 Apr 2023 2 27:38 Stephen Lesego Mokoka Manchester , Great Britain 10 May 2015 3 27:50A Shadrack Hoff Doha , Qatar 11 Dec 2002 4 27:52 Thabang Mosiako Gqeberha , SA 2 Apr 2023 5 27:54A Matthews Motshwarateu New Orleans , USA 16 Apr 1988 6 27:58 Maxime Chaumeton Durban , SA 10 Jul 2022 7 27:58A Gert Thys Atlanta , USA 4 Jul 1996 8 28:00A Simon Morolong Atlanta , USA 4 Jul 1995 9 28:02 Hendrick Ramaala Swansea , Great Britain 26 Sep 1999 10 28:03 Mbuleli Mathanga Durban , SA 10 Jul 2022
Note : Times marked with an A were run on ‘ aided courses ’ that are not record-legal , but are nevertheless amongst the fastest times ever recorded by SA runners over the 10km distance .
Thabang Mosiako and Precious Mashele are some of a new generation of record-challenging SA elites
Four of these top 10 times ( marked in bold ) were run in Absa RUN YOUR CITY Series races , within the last year , including all three of the sub-28 times run by South Africans on home soil . Furthermore , Mashele , Mosiako , Maxime Chaumeton and Mbuleli Mathanga are at the forefront of a group of talented young South African men who are finally beginning to challenge , and overtake , the times run by a previous generation of SA elites in the 1990s and early 2000s .
This points to the likelihood of more new times being added to this top 10 list in coming months or years , especially with the upcoming Absa RUN YOUR CITY races in Cape Town and Durban offering fast , flat courses and terrific financial incentives for fast times . The Absa RUN YOUR CITY Series boasts an impressive , combined prize purse of R1,560,000 in 2023 . Each of the five events will be assigned R312,000 in prize money , of which R252,000 will be allocated to the Open category , with R126 000 each going to Top 10 men and women , and R60,000 towards the various age categories ( Junior , 40-49 , 50-59 , 60-69 and 70 +).
Images : Tobias Ginsberg , Richard Pearce and courtesy Stillwater Sports
Spirits were high at the finish after a terrific race
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