'We must start dreaming big' - Maxime Chaumeton on World Road Running Champs 5km performance

Having lead the race for the first mile, Maxime Chaumeton showed during the inaugural World Road Running Championships in Latvia on Sunday that he is not afraid to take on the big names. The 23-year-old SA 5000m champion was one of two men selected to represent the country in the 5km road race which was won by Ethiopia’s Hagos Gebrhiwet in 12:59. Although Chaumeton faded after his early heroics, he did hang for to run a personal best 13:36 as he finished in 17th position. The sub 28-minute 10km runner says racing against the East Africans in Europe has opened his eyes.

Chaumeton leads a 5000m Central Gauteng Athletics League race earlier this year. Photo Credit: CGA Media.

"The more you go overseas the more you realise that there is a whole other level out there,” he told #TheTopRunner. “It’s just good to see the level out there. I have started to understand and this year I learnt a lot. I need to pick it up definitely," said the man who has raced quite a bit in Europe over the last 9 months since being since by Asics.

Having trained alongside the Olympians and multiple SA Champions such as Precious Mashele and Desmond Mokgobu at Zoo Lake, the man who is coached by Hendrick Ramaala believes that local athletes have what it takes to compete against the best in the world. Chaumeton believes that it’s only a matter of time before he makes a bigger impact on the global stage.

Chaumeton, Seoposengwe, Kavanagh and Jacobs all represented South Africa over 5km at the inaugural World Road Running Championships in the Latvian capital of Riga. Photo Credit: MWMedia.

"I think when you are in South Africa and you watch them on TV on the Diamond League and Continental Tours, you think that they are amazing - that they are superhuman. And then when you stay with them, like I stayed in a room with some of these guys then you realise that they are human just like us. So it’s about the South African mentality. We must stop dreaming small and start dreaming big because the world is huge. The training we do is ready for those kind of races - we just don’t believe in it and that’s what cuts you out 95% of the time. Believe and go into it and charge it!"

Chaumeton finished as the highest placed South African in the men's race as reigning SA 5km Champion Nicholas Seoposengwe finished in 38th place in 14:19. In the women’s race Tayla Kavanagh and Kayla Jacobs performed well to earn top 20 finishes. Kavanagh was 15th in a new personal best of 15:50, while Jacobs crossed the finish line just one place and one second behind her compatriot also in a new career best clocking.