Nicholas Seoposengwe turned the tables on Andries Sesidi as the 21-year-old Boxer athlete trumped a stellar field in the 2022 Absa RUN YOUR CITY JOBURG 10K on National Heritage Day, Saturday 24 September 2022.
Six weeks earlier, Sesedi clinched the SA 10k title ahead of Seoposengwe. This round though Seoposengwe left nothing to chance and took the race by the scruff of the neck as soon as the gun went off.
The Zoo Lake athlete who trains under the guidance of Hendrick Ramaala was due a breakthrough. He was hoping to go sub 28 at the Absa RUN YOUR CITY DURBAN 10K in July, but the confidence levels where not quite as high as he had hoped, and he let his training partner Maxime Chaumeton go. Chaumeton went on to break 28minutes in Durban. So the race today in Johannesburg at the Absa RUN YOUR CITY JOBURG 10K was vindication for the young Seoposengwe.
5km came and went in 14:46 with Seoposengwe driving the pace. Around 40m back was the man who took his first national 10km, Andries Sesedi, with Mathews Leeto on his shoulder. Some 30seconds off the leaders was a big bunch including the likes of Melikhaya Frans, Philani Buthelezi, Simon Sibeko, David Manja and Elroy Gelant. Pre-race favourite, Precious Mashele was battling with a bout of flu and fell off the bus early on.
Seoposengwe maintained control for the rest of the race and when he entered the finish straight in Rahima Moosa Street with 450m to go, it was all over and done, bar the cheering. Seoposengwe was able to celebrate and acknowledge the crowd in the final 50m before punching the air as he crossed the line in 29:42, with Sesedi coming through in 29:47. Kabelo Seboko, another Zoo Lake athlete rounded out the top three (29:55).
“I was very confident today,” said Seoposengwe. “I knew I was in great shape, especially after finishing second at the SA Championships to Andries (Sesedi). I had time to tweak a few things and was in total control of the race today.”
Kenya’s Emmaculate Achol was totally dominant in the women’s race. The 22-year-old Kenyan took 21seconds off her PB to win in 33:50 in 28th position overall. At 5km, SA 10km and Cross Country Champion, Glenrose Xaba was 2 seconds off Achol who went through halfway in 17:08. Xaba finished a solid second some 12seconds behind, finishing in 34:03.
“This was my first visit to South Africa,” said Achol. “I was very happy with my run today and hope to come back to South Africa again soon.”
“Today was a good run for me, my legs were slightly tired after last week’s SA Cross Country Championships and the last two months of racing,” said Xaba.
The route for the 2022 edition of the Absa RUN YOUR CITY JOBURG 10K was changed and for the first time went onto the M1/M2 Highway for the first four kilometres before heading into Joburg Central. The route meant that the runners were able to see the whole of the City spread out before them.
“On behalf of Absa, we would like to congratulate all the winners for this year’s Absa RUN YOUR CITY series of events. The 2022 edition of this race was a true demonstration of what our campaign, Together we can be more, Siyabangena means. We have successfully met our goal in the three cities to get our colleagues, customers, and community members of all fitness levels to work collectively and be an active force for good in their communities while working towards achieving their fitness goals,” said Geoffrey Lee, Absa Managing Executive.
“A big thank you to all participants who joined Team Absa Walk/Run on Strava, where we are going to collect R1’s for every km completed by each participant. We are truly inspired by the display of commitment from everyone,” concludes Lee.
CHARITY SUPPORT: When entering the Absa RUN YOUR CITY JOBURG 10K online entrants could choose to support four local charities: 1. Reach For A Dream Foundation (RFAD), 2. Cotlands, 3. Johannesburg SPCA and 4. Johannesburg Heritage Foundation.
Win a Car Competition: Aadil Patel from Northcliff was the lucky runner that went home with a brand-new Chery Tiggo 4 Pro Urban! To be in the running to win this spectacular prize, runners had to enter the event, collect their race number and be on the start line to be part of the lucky draw.
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Websites: www.runyourcityseries.com