'Injuries frustrated me but I never gave up' - Seboko wins Absa DUBRAN 10K to join 27 minute club
While his talent was never in question, Kabelo Seboko underlined his status as a world class athlete when he dispatched a quality field to win the Absa RUN YOUR CITY DURBAN 10K in the brilliant time of 27:56 this morning. Stephen Mokoka followed him home in a close second place in his first 27 minute 10km clocking on home soil, with Thabang Mosiako third also in 27:59 after being dipped on the finish line by Mokoka. It is the first time in history that three South Africans run have under 28 minutes in the same race.
The 25-year-old Seboko, who also celebrated his first sub 28 minute 10km joins a special club of four local athletes (Maxime Chaumeton, Precious Mashele and Mosiako and Mokoka) to dip under 28 minutes on home soil. He expressed his excitement on the biggest victory of his career.
"I'm happy with the way I ran today. When I came to the race I needed to run at least 28:20 but I ended up surprising myself in the end," said an elated Seboko who smashed his personal best of 28:31 which he ran in the same race last year. "I think in the second half of the race, I was in the leading bunch and I told myself anything can happen. Then when we were at 9km, I nearly gave up but I saw the other guys also looked tired. Then I pushed all the way to finish line. This is one of the the greatest races of my career," he told #TheTopRunner.
The Boxer Athletic Club runner's achievement is all the more inspiring when viewed in light of the difficulty he has had to overcome. After being frustrated by injury over the last two years, Seboko says he opted to reunite with his old coach Richard Mayer to regain his form. He believes move back to the man that discovered him as a teenager in Alexandra Township is already producing results.
"At times, I was frustrated as injuries that nearly robbed me of my career but I never gave up. I told myself things will go back to normal," said and emotional Seboko. "Injuries are part of the game and you need to accept them. So I made a decision to reunite with my old coach to start from scratch. I think he is the one that understands me better. Now, the result are starting to sharpen up a bit. The important thing now is to keep pushing and good results will keep coming."
In the women's race World women's record holder Yalemzerf Yehualaw was in a class of her own. The Ethiopian ran more than half of the race alone to produce scintillating time of 30:46 on a windy day in the City of Ethekwini. Docus Ajok was second in 31:54 with Stella Chesang settling for the third place in 31:56. Cacisile Sosibo finished as the first South African in 33:03.