Records tumble at FNB CitySurfRun
In the men's race, Joshua Cheptegei broke his own course record and with that the Ugandan Record and the SA all-comers record on the day.
PERFECT weather conditions, a fast route and a deep field resulted in a plethora of records tumbling at the second annual FNB Durban 10K CitySurfRun on Sunday.
In the men’s race, Joshua Cheptegei broke his own course record and with that the Ugandan Record and the SA all-comers record on the day. Swiss sensation, Julien Wanders broke both the Swiss National 10km record and the European 10km record by finishing second. Stella Chesang in winning, smashed the women’s course record, the Ugandan National 10km Record, and came within one second of the SA all-comers record.
Right from the gun the men meant business, as a group of twelve set a furious pace, including Joshua Cheptegei, Stephen Kissa (Uganda), Elroy Gelant, Stephen Mokoka, Julien Wanders (Switzerland), John Langat (Kenya), Filmon Ande (Eritrea), Mande Bushendich (Uganda) and Ryan Mphahlele (South Africa). Cheptegei flew across the finish line in 27:16 for the second fastest time globally in 2018 and the fastest on the continent this year. In doing so he took 12 seconds off the previous record and announced his return to form from injury in emphatic fashion.
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“I am really happy with today. The knee is now 100% and today’s time shows me I am in better shape than I thought,” said Cheptegei after the race. “I said that I wanted 27:20 or better, but I did not expect to go this much better.”
Stella Chesang was in no mood to play around and bolted away as soon as the gun went. She did not wait for any of the other female runners, taking the race by the scruff of the neck and leading from start to finish, beating the defending champion, Mercyline Chelangat by a 19 second margin to cross the line in 31:14, missing Elana van Zyl Meyer’s all comers record by a mere second. (Van Zyl Meyer clocked 31:13 in Budapest in October, 2001).
“I felt I was in good shape, so when the gun went off, I just went,” said Chesang. “No one came with but I felt good, so I just kept on going. This is a big result for me. I took 30 seconds off my best, so it really was a good day at the office for me.”
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