Adriaan Wildschutt shatters South African Record at Absa RUN YOUR CITY GQEBERHA 10K

Wildschutt, who was making his Absa RUN YOUR CITY SERIES debut, lived up to his pre-race favourite tag as he eclipsed the previous record mark of 27:35 which had been set by Precious Mashele during the 2023 edition of the race in the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality.

"It feels good (to break the record). It would have been such a pity to come all the way from the US and miss it by a few seconds. I wanted to run 13:30 or 13:35 in the first half and we were way off. I knew it was going to be hard since the wind was there. Overall, I'm happy I managed to pull it off, " said an elated Wildschutt reflecting on what was only the second road race of his glittering career.

This performance in ‘The Friendly City’ means that the 26-year-old who was tenth in the 10 000m final at last year’s Olympic Games in Paris, adds yet another national record to his growing collection which already includes the 3 000m, 5 000m and 10 000m SA records. Wildschutt says setting today’s record was probably the toughest of them all.

“I think this one is pretty hard considering I ran sub-27 minutes two weeks ago and it takes long to recover. Plus, there is the traveling in between and training in Potchefstroom,” he explained.

In the end three men broke 28 minutes as Wildschutt was followed home by Kenya’s Vincent Kipkorir who ran a personal best 27:47 while South Africa’s Kabelo Mulaudzi rounded out the top three with his time of 27:57 - the third sub-28-minute 10km clocking of his career.

In the women’s race, Kenya’s Jane Gati Chacha made a sensational 10km debut, crossing the line in an impressive 31:45. She was closely followed by Ethiopia’s Selam Gebre, who finished in 31:50. South Africa’s Glenrose Xaba put in a strong performance to claim third place overall and top local honours with a time of 31:56.

Making her international debut, Chacha was overjoyed with the result, “I’m very happy. I wasn’t expecting to run this time today especially because it is my first 10km and also my first race outside of Kenya. I’m so thankful.”

“Congratulations to our elite champions, Adriaan Wildschutt and Jane Chacha, on their fantastic performances today – what an incredible display of talent. A very special mention must go to Adriaan Wildschutt on breaking the South African 10km record. This is a truly remarkable achievement – not only for Adriaan personally, but also for South African athletics and for our event as a whole. We are honoured to have witnessed such a historic moment. A heartfelt thank you to the 4000 runners who joined us – a record sold out field – and to our incredible sponsors and partners for making this unforgettable day possible.” – Michael Meyer, Managing Director of Stillwater Sports and Series Founder.

“Well done to all that participated in the Absa RUN YOUR CITY GQEBERHA 10K and joined Team Absa Walk Run on Strava. A huge congratulations to all the winners. It was inspiring to see so many people taking to the streets, with many different reasons for running, pushing themselves to achieve their individual goals," said Jabulile Nsibanyoni, Head of Sponsorships at Absa. “Your stories have inspired us all, and we are immensely grateful for your contributions to our event. Thank you to our colleagues, volunteers, partner sponsors, and organisers who made this event possible.”