Road runners are tearing up the tar in local 10km races

Already showing real potential, some spectacular performances over the last few months have raised the bar even further for SA men’s road running, with the country’s elite athletes displaying unprecedented quality and depth over the 10km distance.

Last week, at the Absa Run Your City race in Durban, Kabelo Seboko beat a world-class field in 27:56, with compatriots Stephen Mokoka and Thabang Mosiako rounding off the podium, both clocking 27:59 as they shut out the visiting East African stars.

These results, along with Precious Mashele’s SA record of 27:35 which was set at the opening leg of the Run Your City series in Gqeberha in April, means that four South Africans have dipped under 28 minutes over the 10km distance this year.

In addition, Maxime Chaumeton broke the 28-minute barrier last year, lifting the tally to five athletes in just two seasons.

Before last year, only three SA athletes had ever gone sub-28 (Matthews Mothswarateu, Shadrack Hoff and Mokoka) which remains a significant benchmark at top-flight international level.

Half-marathon potential

While there is no 10km race at the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Latvia later this year, recent performances have again suggested that South Africa could be gunning for medals over the half-marathon distance.

Though there has also been improvement in the half-marathon and the marathon in recent years, the results have not been quite as explosive over longer distances, but the 10km is considered an important stepping stone to 21km and 42km races.

Add to this the fact that national half-marathon champion Mosiako, in-form Seboko and talented prospect Chaumeton are all under the age of 29 (still young for long-distance road runners), while 32-year-old Mashele and 38-year-old Mokoka are currently in the prime of their careers, and the future suddenly looks remarkably bright.

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The nation’s elite women have seen similar improvements in recent years, thanks to the increased levels of competition at domestic races. And though they still have some work to do to be able to consistently hold off challenges from quality foreign fields, SA’s elite men have already stepped up.

That’s not to say there is no more room for improvement. The performances by Kenyan and Ethiopian athletes, among others, have also improved and major global medals are still out of reach for most of our country’s best athletes.

To take another step forward, they will also need to transform their 10km results into similar breakthrough times over longer distances.

But it is clear they are on the right trajectory, as they flaunt their ability to regain SA’s footing as a road running powerhouse.