"I'll go all out" - SA men embrace last 2026 chance for 27 mins on home soil at Hollywoodbets Durban 10km

That athletes themselves are disappointed that only two South African has managed to dip under 28 minutes for 10km on home soil this season (Adriaan Wildschutt and MAxime Chaumeton), speaks volumes about just how 10km running has improved in SA over the last four years. In June 2022, not a single local athlete had ever achieved the feat, yet four years later seven SA men (Wildschutt, Precious Mashele, Stephen Mokoka, Kabelo Mulaudzi, Elroy Gelant, Thabang Mosiako and SA 10km record holder Chaumeton) have recorded 27 minute 10km clockings on home soil and most of those have come in the Absa RUN YOUR CITY Series.

The fast start of the 2025 Hollywoodbets Durban 10km race. Photo Credit: Hollywoodbets Durban 10km.

But with the all the coastal Absa RUN YOUR CITY Series races of 2026 behind us, the last opportunity for some of those men to salvage their 10km season is to be found at tomorrow's (30 August) Hollywoodbets Durban 10km. Boasting a fast route which saw Lesotho's Kamohelo Mofolo win last year's race in 27:58, Mulaudzi, Mosiako and Mokoka will face off for line honours.

Although he has struggled with injury this season, Mulaudzi, who has produced a sub 28 minute 10km effort on home soil every year since 2023, is probably best placed to deliver 27 minutes at the Hollywoodbets Kingsmead Stadium. The reigning 10 000m SA champion who ran 28:01 to finish as the runner-up at the 2025 Hollywoodbets Durban 10km and holds a 28:06 season’s best run when he took sixth position at last month’s Absa RUN YOUR CITY DURBAN 10K is eager to put the troubles of the first half of 2026 behind him.

From Left: Comrades Marathon top 20 finisher Lindelani Mjwara, Stephen Mokoka, Thabang Mosiako and Kabelo Mulaudzi talking at the pre-race press conference on 28 August. Photo Credit: Hollywoodbets Durban 10km.

Surprisingly, the 28-year-old Boxer Athletic Club top runner is yet to finish on the podium in a major 10km race this year and says he is due a big performance.  "I'm going all out. I want to finish on the podium. It’s been a long time," he warned.

Mulaudzi's stiffest competition is likely to come from Mosiako who has also had a sub par season by his own standards. A 27:45 athlete at his best, the Nedbank Running Club top runner is yet to break 29 minutes in 2026, saying the Hollywoodbets Durban 10km where he took third place last year, will serve as a good fitness test as he prepares himself for a year-end marathon.

"I'll just go and enjoy my race," said Mosiako.