Olympian Precious Mashele wins Joburg 10K

Cape Town — On National Heritage Day, the streets of Johannesburg will be painted red as thousands of runners line up in Mary Fitzgerald Square to #RunTheirCity in the iconic Run Your City Joburg 10K marathon.

Olympian Precious Mashele, SA 5 000m record holder Elroy Gelant, KwaZulu-danger Natal’s man Mbuleli Mathanga, and Melikhaya Frans, fresh from his phenomenal run at the World Marathon Championships where he took a massive two minutes off his personal best, will be among those lining up to compete on Saturday, September 24.

Hendrick Ramaala, Mashele’s coach, stated what he wants from his charge: “It’s a win.”

And his competitors will take heed of Ramaala’s prediction that his athlete, Maxime Chaumeton, would break 28 minutes at this year’s Run Your City Durban10K.

“Precious is now physically fit. “No more niggles, and eager to conclude 2022 on a good note,” stated Ramaala.

Mashele got the title of “Mr 10k” after establishing himself as the most dominant 10km runner in South Africa over the past several years, winning three consecutive SA 10km championships from 2018 to 2021 (2018, 2019, and 2021). (there were no championships in 2020 due to Covid-19).

His 2021 championship came at the Run Your City Durban10K, where he ran a 10km personal best of 28 minutes and 11 seconds. Ramaala’s eyes brightened up when hearing about the new course in Johannesburg.

“It sounds like Precious would enjoy a flat course. “The roadway will be an interesting experience, and the city’s big skyscrapers will provide a lot of atmosphere, so you can expect terrific racing,” Ramaala explained.

Michael Mbambani, Melikhaya Frans’s coach, stated, “We’ve prepared properly.” “Meli is fully recovered from the World Marathon Championships, and he has been putting in fantastic work in training, so we anticipate a strong performance from him in the upcoming race.”

Frans placed 18th at the World Marathon Championships with a time of 2 hours, 9 minutes, and 24 seconds, bettering his previous marathon best of 2:11.28. “Meli will not run for a period of time. “He will race the competition and decide when to act,” Mbambani said.

Gelant’s best Run Your City Joburg 10K finish was third in 2019, the final year the event was held owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. His third-place finish occurred on a difficult course that traversed Constitution Hill.

The last time I ran the Run Your City Joburg 10K, I placed third, so I hope to do better this time around. The race’s traversal of the highway will make it intriguing, as the route is extremely flat and should result in fast timings,” Gelant added.

The Run Your City Series typically attracts the greatest runners, so I know I’ll have my work cut out for me, but I’m looking forward to competing in the Run Your City Joburg 10K again.

In June 2022, at the Africa Championships in Mauritius, Gelant placed seventh in the 10,000-meter event.