South African long-distance runner Elroy Gelant wins the Absa Run Your City 10km race in Durban. (Anthony Grote/Supplied)
South African long-distance athletes Elroy Gelant and Glenrose Xaba made history on Sunday by producing the best performances of their lives at the Absa Run Your City 10km race in Durban.
In the form of his life, 37-year-old Gelant completed the race in ideal windless and sunny conditions in a personal best time of 27 minutes 47 seconds.
Defending champion Kabelo Mulaudzi (27:53) finished in second place, while Thabang Mosiako grabbed the final podium position in 27:54.
An unprecedented five men ran faster than 28 minutes in a South African 10km race. Three-time Olympian Stephen Mokoka (27:56), who will compete in his fourth Games this year, finished fifth.
“It’s great to win my first race in the Absa Run Your City series,” said Gelant, who along with Mokoka will represent South Africa in the Olympic Marathon in Paris on 10 August.
“It took a lot of courage in the last part of the race with Kabelo (Mulaudzi) on my heels. However, I am glad I pushed through to the end. This came from a combination of discipline and hard work in my workouts.
Gelant believes the victory will significantly boost his confidence before the Paris Olympics, which starts on 26 July.
“There was a bit of pressure on me today because it was said before the race that I was the favourite. When I train, I think about a medal at the Games, but I also have to be realistic. So, for me, it would be great to be able to finish in the top 15.
“There are five weeks left before the Olympics. I will now go back to my Olympic structure of 210 km per week and just gradually reduce my sessions so that I can be sharp for the marathon,” added Gelant.
In the women’s race, Christine Nalimo Njoki set a new SA All-Comers record. The 24-year-old clocked a blistering time of 30:37. It was also the fastest 10km time of her career.
Xaba (31:12) surpassed the legendary Elana Meyer’s national 10 km record of 31:13 – which she set 23 years ago in October 2001 in Budapest – by one second.
The 29-year-old finished fourth behind Kenya’s Christine Njoki (30:37 PB), Ethiopia’s Debash Desta (31:00) and Judith Kiyeng (31:10).
Xaba, a three-time national 10km title holder, was ecstatic to finally break her former mentor’s record.
“I feel very excited, I just want to thank my team, my coaches, Violet and Caster Semenya, and my manager,” said Xaba.
“I also want to thank Michael Meyer (organiser of the race) for inviting me. I am very excited to break one of the SA records of Elana Meyer because she taught me at Endurocad when I was still young.”
“She said: ‘Glenrose, you have too much oxygen in your lungs, one day you will be able to break one of my SA records, and you will be fast in the half marathon and marathon; just keep believing in yourself and train very hard to achieve it.”
Xaba honoured Meyer after breaking her long-standing record and expressed gratitude for Meyer’s inspiration throughout her career.
“Thank you, Elana Meyer, for motivating me. I always looked at your times and those national records and told myself I can do anything, I am strong, and I will train very hard and keep believing in myself,” she adds.
Meyer told News24 Sport on Saturday that she was happy that Xaba finally managed to improve her record. She believes her record has stood for too long and that it was only a matter of time before it was broken by Xaba.
“I’m really happy for Glenrose. She has always been someone who consistently performed well and worked hard,” said Meyer.
