Seloyi favourite for SA 10km title as Kavanagh looks to dominate in the absence of Xaba

In the absence of Maxime Chaumeton and Kabelo Mulaudzi - two of South Africa's fastest 10km athletes of the year - the door is wide open for new national 10km champion to be crowned. Incorporated into the Northridge Mall Marathon and Half, the Athletics South Africa (ASA) 10km championships take place in Bloemfontein this weekend (15 November), where Central Gauteng Athletics (even without Chaumeton and Mulaudzi) will look to dominate the senior men's competition.

Boasting a personal best of 28:12 set at the Absa RUN YOUR CITY DURBAN 10K in July, one of the country’s most improved 10km athletes of the year is Bennet Seloyi. The Boxer Athletic Club top runner is also the defending champion after finishing ahead of Mulaudzi on a hilly route in Emmerentia, Johannesburg in March 2024. The Thembisan is in good form after claiming the national marathon title in February and delivering a very strong finish to take second place (14:22) at last week's Boxer Duper Run Joburg 5K to finish just two seconds behind winner Ryan Mphahlele.

CGA's Seloyi is the favourite to win the ASA senior men's 10km title. Photo Credit: Supplied.

Seloyi's strongest competition is likely to come from fellow Boxer athlete Chris Mhlanga who is also the CGA 10km champion after grabbing third position at the Thembisa Mile 10km race on 26 October to finish as the highest placed CGA athlete. Reflecting on a season during which he produced a 28:17 lifetime best at the Absa RUN YOUR CITY CAPE TOWN 10K in March, Mhlanga is satisfied albeit not over the moon after a 2025 which he describes as adequate.

"2025 was a bit challenging for me because I suffered a lot of injuries," he told #TheTopRunner. "That pulled me back from running faster and faster. So it was more challenging than previous years," said Mhlanga who took fifth at that inaugural Boxer Super Run Joburg 5k in 14:44.

Kavanagh on the way to winning the 2021 SA 10km title. Photo Credit: Tobias Ginsberg.

While the senior men's 10km podium could be swept by CGA, the senior women's 10km is likely to dominated by runners from Athletics Gauteng North (AGN). The nation's dominant female 10km force Glenrose Xaba will skip the Free State event to focus on concluding her preparations for the Valencia Marathon on 7 December, leaving the door open for one of her training partners in Karabo Mailula or Karabo More to fly the AGN flag. But the pre-race favourite must undoubtedly be KwaZulu-Natal Athletics' (KZNA) Tayla Kavanagh who will look to win her first national 10km crown since 2021, after an excellent 2025 which saw her break 32 minutes for the first time.