Kenyans Victor Kipruto and Veronica Leleo dominate 10km race

Veronica Leleo dominated the women’s race at the start and finished with a time of 31:42, earning herself R30 000 in prize money.

Despite the cold and windy conditions, over twelve thousand runners participated.

Precious Mashele and Thabang Mosiako finished in second and third place, with times of 28:41 and 28:43. This was the same order of finish as the Run Your City 10km Gqeberha in April. 

Kipruto ran with the pack and broke out in the last 2km, closely monitored by Mashele and Mosiako, who lost ground in the final metres. Elroy Gelant, a veteran South African road runner, finished in fourth place with a time of 28:56 at the age of 38, improving on his 12th place finish in Gqeberha and securing a top ten finish.

“I battled with the wind and tried my best, and thank God for winning the race,” said Kipruto. “It was tough, and the guys pushed me until the end. If the conditions were good, I could have run faster. It was hard to cope with the wind,” added Kipruto.

Leleo, running with the pacemaker Gladwin Mzazi, opened up a big lead on the other runners and took advantage of her position to finish first. Glenrose Xaba was the first South African to cross the line first in sixth place with a time of 33:40. Cacisile Sosibo finished in seventh place with a time of 33:51, followed by Kesa Molotsane in eighth place with a time of 34:19. Lebogang Phalula, a veteran of South African road running at the age of 40, rounded the top ten with a time of 35:38.

Despite being the pre-race favourite, Leleo found it challenging to deal with the wind. “If it was not for the wind, I could have run faster,” she said after pausing and crying during the post-race interviews. “The pace setters helped me, and I enjoyed the run. I am happy and did this for my country. I wanted to run faster and hope to do it next time with better weather conditions,” added Leleo.