Spectators can expect fireworks at the 2022 Absa Run Your City (RYC) Durban 10km as South Africa’s best athletes, including the likes of Desmond Mokgobo, Collen Mulaudzi, Thabang Mosiako, Reghen Magwai, Sibusiso Nzima and Precious Mashele to mention just a few, descend on eThekweni on Sunday, 10 July, ready to #RunForDurban.
Not only have the organisers offered huge incentives for fast times, but all indications are that South Africa’s best are getting better. Director of Stillwater Sports, Dezroy Poole, said they are excited to see how South Africa’s best athletes are rising to the occasion at the Absa RYC Series.
“In Cape Town in May this year we had three South Africans who finished in the top ten running personal bests and in Durban in October last year, seven of the top ten men ran their best times ever over 10km. It shows how the Absa RYC Series, with the incentives on offer, fast and flat courses, and exciting race atmosphere is making a difference in South African road running,” said Poole.
Seven athletes in the men’s top ten hit their personal bests (PBs) at the Absa RYC Durban 10K in October 2021. Three of the top ten men in Cape Town improved on their PBs. The athletes are getting better as the courses provided by the Absa RYC Series get faster.
The next leg of the Absa RYC Series is in Durban on 10 July and of the seven who set their PBs in 2021, five will be back. Spearheading the charge is the defending champion, Precious Mashele, who will be out to defend his title and look to improve on the 28:11 PB he clocked in Durban in 2021. Collen Mulaudzi took third in 2021 with a time of 28:26, Reghen Magwai came fourth in 2021 with a time of 28:29, in 5th place, Maxime Chaumeton finished at 28:30 who had done most of the hard work up front in the 2021 race and shown how aggressive a runner he is, and in 10th place was Nicholas Seoposengwe who finished on 28:56.
Mashele missed the Absa RYC Cape Town 10km due to illness but is now healthy and hungry to defend his title, especially with the introduction of amongst others, Uganda’s Abel Sikowo, a 27:58 athlete. Magwai in particular will be worth noticing after finishing eighth in Absa RYC Cape Town 10K in 28:40, this after some heavy mileage training following his fifth place at the SA Championships in the 10 000m in April. Magwai was only 11 seconds off his lifetime best.
Maxime Chaumeton literally set the pace for the pack in the Durban leg of the Series in 2021 and at one stage had the bunch on a sub-28-minute pace. His aggressive front running nature will be sure to keep the pace honest. This will be his first outing on the road in 2022 and after his second-place finish at the SA Championships in the 5 000m in April, the youngster who trains with Hendrick Ramaala and Precious Mashele at Zoo Lake will be in the mix to disrupt the form books.
Seven-time South African representative, Sibusiso Nzima, is quietly making his presence felt after years in the doldrums due to injury and illness. A fully fit Nzima can upset the form book. At the recent SA Half Marathon Championships, Nzima set the pace from just before the 10k mark to just after 15km. While he did fade in the closing stages of the race (the last kilometre), Nzima took seven seconds off his PB and was able to dip under 62min for the Half Marathon for the first time since 2016 (61:38).
“I am excited about Durban. The last few years have been a real struggle for me with injury and getting sick. But now I have a solid block of training behind me, I am injury free, and I am excited about Durban. My best 10km is 28:29 and I know that in Durban that can go. That is in fact the objective,” said Nzima.
The 35-year-old has every reason to be excited. His 28:59 at the Absa RYC Cape Town 10K this year is his best time over the distance since 2017. Both his Half Marathon and 10km times came off no speed training, only months of easy work to get his base back to 2016 levels. For the Absa RYC Durban 10K, Nzima is doing speed work. His opposition will have taken notice of his form and hunger at the SA Half Marathon Championships and will be keeping a wary eye out for him come race day.
