Chelangat returns to push the pace in 10km race
Chelangat anticipates a faster time than what she raced in 2017.
DEFENDING champion, Mercyline Chelangat will have a big bullseye on her back on Sunday, 14 October when she lines up at the second annual FNB Durban 10K Citysurfrun.
In 2017 at the age of 20, Chelangat showed some promise as an athlete, but with the likes of the experienced Dorcas Tuitoek, Paskalia Chepkorir and Veronica Nyaruai in the line-up, Chelangat was not expected to podium, never mind win.
In the end she not only won, but also shattered her best-ever 10km time by just under two minutes, bringing her time down from 33:17 to 31:38 in only her second ever 10km race.
Returning to Durban to defend her title on Sunday, 14 October, Chelangat anticipates a faster time than what she raced in 2017.
“I know the course now and I think I can go faster. I have prepared very hard for this race and if conditions are good, I want to push the pace,’” said Chelangat from her training base in Kapchorwa, Uganda. Chelangat picked up the bronze medal in the 10,000m at the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane in April and has since then raced only in a 3,000m at the Osaka Golden Grand Prix on 20 May, where she set her personal best of 9:09.28.
“My main focus for 2018 was the Commonwealth Games on the track, so that is why I didn’t race much after that, other than the run in Osaka. So I am really hungry to race in Durban again.”
Chelangat is not concerned about the favourite tag. “I can only do my best. I know what I am capable of and will run accordingly. If someone is better than me on the day, then so be it.”
Chelangat is the latest name to be announced for the Durban race with compatriot, Joshua Cheptegei, the 2017 men’s winner, already confirmed. Cheptegei ran an all-comers record of 27:28 in Durban and Chelangat clocked the second fastest time ever on South African soil for her win. Her 31:38 was a mere five seconds off the fastest time run by Elana van Zyl-Meyer and if she is looking to go faster than her best, we could witness the fastest ever time run over 10km in South Africa.
In 2017, the initial race pace was almost suicidal as the first 2km were run in 6:02, before calming down. With the knowledge gained from 2017 and the desire to run faster, there is no doubt that Chelangat will have a pacing strategy in mind. If 2017 is anything to go by, then the 2018 race will certainly be a nail-biting event to watch.
