If you are a runner who likes challenging a stopwatch, make sure you participate in the Sappi Tuks 10km race on Saturday.
Race organiser Jet Moses predicts that athletes will be able to improve their personal best times over the distance. But there is a precondition to this. Moses emphasised that athletes would have had to do the long, hard hours in training. He expects the men’s race to be won in 29 minutes and a few seconds and that the first woman can cross the finish line after 32 minutes.
Tuks student Karabo Mailula, who won the women’s 10km race in 2023, makes no secret that she wants to win the title back. She could not participate last year because she represented South Africa at the FISU World University Championships Cross Country in Oman. Mailula won gold in the 10km.
Last year’s results indicate that Mailula was the fourth fastest local female athlete over 10km when she ran a race in Durban, clocking 33:08. On the track, she improved her best time in the 10,000 metres by almost four minutes when she finished second at the USSA Championships in Stellenbosch. Her time was 33:58.85.
According to Mailula, the most crucial thing the legendary Caster Semenya taught her was to believe in her abilities as a runner.
“If you don’t, you are bound to fail. So, I never race to make up the numbers.”
Collins Kgadima is another Tuks athlete hoping to snatch a podium place. He was third in the 10km last year. On Saturday, he will compete in the 21km. In 2024, he was the South African student champion over the distance.
Kgadima has set himself two goals for the season. He will aim to run for a time very close to 28 minutes in 10km, and he wants to run for 21km in 62 minutes. However, he is also a realist. His chances of doing it in the Sappi Tuks Half Marathon on Saturday are slim.
“The Jacaranda City is known for its challenging running routes. There is hardly a race where you, as a runner, will not be tested by one or two steep climbs. The Sappi Tuks race is no exception. Over the first 13km, at least four steep hills await us. It’s not too bad, but it will test your strength.
“Over the last few kilometres, things get easier. Predicting how you will run a race is always tricky because you never know what can happen during a race. But for now, I plan to run the first 12km at a 3-minute and 5-second pace; then, if I feel good, I will speed up.”
The one thing Kgadima has got going for him is that he is being coached by Tuks’s Samuel Sepeng. What motivates Sepeng as a coach is his desire to make a difference in athletes’ lives and to leave a lasting legacy.
“To see my athletes happy and achieve their goals is my reward,” is the principle Sepeng abides by.
For race information, contact Jet Moses at 072 259 4282.