'I feel good' - Andries Sesedi targets peak performance at SA Cross Country Champs

Former SA 10km champion Andries Sesedi is hopeful that a new coach and new training base will help him to recreate the form that took him to two national titles. After two injury-riddled barren seasons, the Boxer Athletic Club top runner made the decision to leave coach Motlatsi Sesing on Gauteng's West Rand in order to join South Africa's premier 10km athlete Kabelo Mulaudzi in his training base in Alexandra Township.

Sesedi downing the likes of Mbuleli Mathanga and Nicholas Seoposengwe on the way to victory at the 2022 SA 10km Championships held in the City of Tshwane. Photo Credit: CGA Media.

"I feel good. I can feel that my fitness is returning. I just have to trust the process and be patient," he told #TheTopRunner. "I'm pain free and injury free. I'm happy because I haven't got any injuries to complain about. I'm grateful for the support I have received from the Boxer Athletic Club, coach Richard Mayer and my training partner Kabelo Mulaudzi."

Sesing was the architect behind Sesedi's 28:39 10km lifetime best three years ago, while he also guided his young charge to the national 10km crown in 2022 and the national 10 000m title in 2023. Sesedi admits that leaving a coach who had been a pivotal part of his career since he was a junior was a difficult but necessary decision. One that is beginning to bear fruit.

Sesedi is now training alongside Muluadzi. Photo Credit: Supplied.

"I grew up in Randfontein. That's where home is. But now I am in Alexandra. I decided to move to try to something new because I had been struggling. I was training alone and that affected my motivation. Now that I have a training partner, I'm motivated because we can push each other during training. The training has also changed. It's a little bit more challenging. But I'm doing my best," explained the man who joined the Boxer Athletic Club at the beginning of the 2025 season.

Training alongside the fourth fastest SA 10km athlete of all time (27:41) has been the catalyst that has ignited Sesedi’s ailing fortunes. The 24-year-old managed his first sub 30 minute 10km clocking in three years when he produced 29:56 at the Absa RUN YOUR CITY DURBAN 10K on 13 July and followed that up with a third place finish in the 10km race at the Central Gauteng Athletics Cross Country Championships, leaving him hopeful of a positive performance at the Athletics South Africa (ASA) Cross Country Championships in Middelburg, Mpumalanga on Saturday 6 September.

Sesedi is confident of finishing in the top ten at the SA Cross Country Championships after claiming a third place finish at the provincial CGA Cross Country Champs in on 16 August. Photo Credit: MWMedia.

"I'm very happy because it had been a long time since I finished on the podium. For example, last year, I didn’t manage to finish in the top three at the CGA Cross Country Champs. I feel motivated because I feel like I'm improving each and every day. I’m excited. I didn't expect to perform that well which gives me hope that my season isn’t over yet and I can definitely place and get a top ten finish."