Comrades Champion Ready to Challenge the 10km Specialists

Refusing to be pigeonholed as an ultra-marathon specialist, reigning Comrades Marathon champion George Kusche is targeting a fast time at the Absa Run Your City Tshwane 10K on Sunday, 23 August 2026. But he’ll face a serious challenge from Kenya’s Salem Kibet, who arrives in South Africa with victory firmly in his sights.

Joshua Cheptegei and Salem Kibet by Anthony Grote

After returning to South Africa in 2023 with a sub-four-minute mile and a 13:28.95 personal best over 5000m, earned during a highly competitive US NCAA college career, Kusche set about building his credentials on the road.

A 28:56 at the Absa Run Your City Gqeberha 10K in 2024 was followed by a 2:20:12 42.2km debut at the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon six months later, and fourth position at last year’s Soweto Marathon signalled that his transition from track to road athlete was complete. On 14 June, Kusche celebrated a record-breaking run at the 99th edition of The Ultimate Human Race (Comrades Marathon), when he clocked 5:15:56 to smash the previous Up Run record by more than eight minutes.

The 28-year-old reveals that 10km running remains the basis of his ultra-marathon success, which is why Kusche is eager to test himself against the speed merchants at the Tshwane event.

“It’s very important for me to run a fast 10km because I train as a marathon athlete year-round and then I just switch to Comrades-specific training in March. And if you want to be a good marathoner, you must be able to run a good 10km. So I’m hoping to be able to run a good race in Tshwane. I’d love to see if I can run sub-30 minutes, which should be a good time at altitude. I’m curious to see how well I can do. I’m in decent shape, and I’m really looking forward to this.”

If Kusche can break 30 minutes, then he could find himself in the lead bunch running alongside the likes of Kenya’s Salem Kibet. Last year only ten men were able to break the 30-minute barrier at the notoriously hilly course, where Kibet will line up as one of the pre-race favourites.

After taking second place behind the iconic Joshua Cheptegei at last month’s Absa Run Your City in Durban, in a lifetime best of 27:29, Kibet is hopeful of securing victory this time around.

“My target is to improve on my performance from Durban and compete for the win,” says Kibet. “Finishing second in Durban was not easy, especially running alongside a great athlete like Joshua Cheptegei. That experience taught me a lot. I thank God for the opportunity, and I am looking forward to giving my best in Tshwane.”

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