TOP 10 STATS
SA ’ s All Time Top 10 Men Over 10km
At the Absa RUN YOUR CITY 10K in Gqeberha , South Africa ’ s Lesiba Precious Mashele and Thabang Mosiako came away with a national record ( 27:35 ) and a big personal best ( 27:52 ) in second and third positions respectively . Multiple SA Champion Mashele broke Stephen Mokoka ’ s mark by two seconds , and his PB by a whopping 36 seconds ; Mosiako improved his by 29 seconds . Their times are the fastest ever by South Africans on home soil . For this month ’ s Top 10 , we feature an all-time list of the top SA men in the 10 km . Note that four of the top eight times were run on aided courses , which are not record-legal .
1 |
27:36 |
Precious Mashele |
Gqeberha , SA |
2 Apr 23 |
2 |
27:38 |
Stephen Mokoka |
Manchester , UK |
10 May 15 |
3 |
27:50a |
Shadrack Hoff |
Doha , Qatar |
11 Dec 02 |
4 |
27:53 |
Thabang Mosiako |
Gqeberha , SA |
2 Apr 23 |
5 |
27:54a |
Matthews Motshwarateu |
New Orleans , USA |
16 Apr 88 |
6 |
27:58 |
Maxime Chaumeton |
Durban , SA |
10 Jul 22 |
7 |
27:58a |
Gert Thys |
Atlanta , USA |
4 Jul 96 |
8 |
28:00a |
Simon Morolong |
Atlanta , USA |
4 Jul 95 |
9 |
28:02 |
Hendrick Ramaala |
Swansea , UK |
26 Sep 99 |
10 |
28:03 |
Mbuleli Mathanga |
Durban , SA |
10 Jul 22 |
Thabang Mosiako and Precious Mashele ran themselves into the record books in Gqeberha
Johnny Halberstadt
27 June 1973
Marcello Fiasconaro , who was born in Cape Town , had equalled Dicky Broberg ’ s SA Record for 800m of 1:44.7 exactly two months earlier in Johannesburg , but on this day in Milan , he represented Italy in an
Marcello Fiasconaro international dual match against Czechoslovakia and demolished the field with a new World Record of 1:43.7 , improving Olympic Champion Dave Wottle ’ s 1:44.3 . Fiasconaro slowed down appreciably over the last half lap , as can be seen from his splits : 25.0 , 26.2 , 25.3 , 27.2 . At the next year ’ s European Championships in Rome , he was the overwhelming favourite , but started even faster ( 50.1 for the first lap ). He was still leading at 600m , but then took 28.7 for the last 200m and finished sixth .
2 June 1979
With the 1500m and 5000m being run on the same day at the NCAA Championships in Champaign , Illinois in the USA , South Africa ’ s Sydney Maree , the country ’ s fastest over the shorter distance in 1979 , chose to compete in the 5000m . Maree , a student at Villanova University , bided his time close to the front of the race until a lap to go . Taking the lead , he sped through “ the smoothest-looking 52.2 last lap imaginable ,” as Track & Field News put it , and crossed the line in a new SA Record of 13:20.63 , almost seven seconds faster than the national mark he had set two weeks earlier . The record would stand for almost 16 years .
Sydney Maree
30 June 1984
Until 1985 , the men ’ s and women ’ s SA 10km Championships were run separately , and on this day , the men ’ s race was run in June for the first time . Stephens Morake , who ten weeks before had beaten Matthews Temane narrowly in the 5000m at the SA Championships ( and also won the 10000m ), did so again , winning by a single second in 29:04 , with Kenny Jacobs third in 29:27 . Two weeks later in Durban , Morake ran the year ’ s fastest time , 28:44 ( 20 seconds ahead of Jacobs ), but in September Temane got revenge when he beat Morake comfortably for the SA cross-country title .
Stephens Morake ( far right )
About the Author
These stats and results are drawn from the weekly Distance Running Results mailer compiled by internationally acclaimed athletics statistician Riël Hauman , who has more than 50 years ’ experience as a journalist , author , publisher , commentator , pundit , administrator , event organiser , coach , team manager and runner in South African athletics , road running and cross country . He is also a former editor of the South African Athletics Annual , and author of two books , Hardloop en Lééf and Century of the Marathon 1896-1996 . To subscribe to his weekly newsletter , send him a mail at rielh @ mweb . co . za .
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