GELANT clocks maiden Sub 28 as Langat and Chepkorir make it two from two at the Absa RUN YOUR CITY CAPE TOWN 10K
Elroy Gelant continued his mercurial form with yet another magical performance at the Absa RUN YOUR CITY Series. After grabbing second place at the Absa RUN YOUR CITY GQEBERHA 10K last month, Gelant finished on the podium once again during today’s Absa RUN YOUR CITY Cape Town 10K. But unlike his performance in The Friendly City, the veteran runner went even faster as he finished just three seconds behind winner Vincent Langat who stopped the clock in 27:51.
With three personal bests over 10km, 21km and 42km over the last nine months, the 37-year-old says he feels more confident than ever which is why he had wanted to attack Precious Mashele’s 27:35 national record even though the wind had other ideas.
“The wind was a factor. I just told myself like a skipper who’s on a boat when there’s wind you just need to change your sails, so I just changed by angle of running. But I knew that I would run well. I set my watch to SA Record. I didn’t get there but I’m still happy with the race,” explained the athlete who is coached by Jean Verster who walks away with R85 000 in prize money - R25 000 for second place and R60 000 for breaking 28 minutes.
The results in The Mother City on Mother’s Day comes just two weeks after the Boxer Athletic Club man won the national marathon title when he clocked 2:09:32 at the Durban International Marathon a fortnight ago. Asked about the exertions of taking on a 10km race so soon after running the second fastest marathon of his career, Gelant pointed to his training routine as an indicator of success.
“It’s all about discipline. For example even tomorrow morning when I go back home, I need to put in my long run. That’s the consistency I have. When we traveled back from Pietermaritzburg after the SA Champs we left at 5am in the morning, which meant that I had to do my long run at 2am in the morning. That’s what I have done to be this new positive Elroy who’s running well,” he said.
Finishing behind Gelant in third was Francis Abongo who produced a personal best 28:15 in what was his first official 10km road race outside his native Kenya. The East Africans also featured prominently in the women’s race which was won by Diana Chepkorir. Like her countryman Langat, her 31:47 win in Cape Town made it two Absa RUN YOUT CITY Series wins in as many starts after victory in Gqeberha. Lesotho’s Neheng Khathala was the runner-up in 32:16, while Getenesh Sase Agafew of Ethiopia claimed third in 32:48.