'I'm taking it a step at a time' - CGA 10 00m champ van der Merwe targets fast time at Absa GQEBERHA 10K
- Mosibodi Whitehead
- Apr 10
- 2 min read
While Adriaan Wildschutt is aiming to go beyond the SA 10km record of 27:35 and the likes of Kabelo Mulaudzi, Nadeel Wildschutt and Chris Mhlanga have their sights set on a sub 28 minute clocking, Dylan van der Merwe feels that he is ready for a breakthrough performance at the Absa RUN YOUR CITY GQEBERHA 10K on Sunday. That’s because despite training alongside the likes of Mashele, Mhlanga and 27:36 athlete Maxime Chaumeton, van der Merwe is yet to even break 29 minutes.
"I started running when I was seven years old. I was quite a bad athlete. I didn’t look like an athlete," he chuckled. "But my love for athletics just grew from there. I think my interest in the sport stemmed from the fact that my father was also a runner when he was in school - although he was a 100m sprinter."
Unlike his father though, the 27-year-old chose the long distances, where under the guidance of Hendrick Ramaala he has started to show promise. This season van der Merwe claimed the Central Gauteng Athletics 10 000m title in mid-March beating some seasoned including the likes of Kabelo Melamu to win the gold medal.
"I was very stressed before the race, but with 500m to go I just decided to give it a full out sprint and that's how I won the race. I feel great. I can’t believe it. It feels like a dream," he told #TheTopRunner.
Three weeks later, Boxer Athletic Club top runner lined up at the Athletics South Africa 10 000m championships at the Green Point Athletics Stadium in Cape Town on 4 April and took fifth place overall in 29:27.07. Those two performances over 25 laps of the track have lifted van der Merwe’s confidence. He now believes that he is ready to improve on his 29:32 10km lifetime best in 'The Friendly City.'
"I really hope so. Even if it's just a second, anything faster will work for me. The goal is to run 28 minutes, but we'll see. I'm taking it one step at a time."
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