Adriaan Wildschutt – I don’t want to think about it too much

The US-based runner has been in an extended training camp in Potchefstroom as he prepares for the Absa Run Your City Gqeberha 10km race, set for Sunday at 7am at Nelson Mandela Bay.

Wildschutt has his sights set on becoming the first athlete to run sub-27 minutes in 10km on African soil in the country of his birth.

However, with race day fast approaching, he admits the pressure is mounting and he is trying not to become consumed by chasing the fastest time of his career.

Last year, he set the South African 10km record of 27:28 in Gqeberha, a mark that was later eclipsed by Maxime Chaumeton, who clocked 26:55 in Romania five months later.

The Ceres-born athlete, who finished tenth in the men’s 10 000m final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, says familiarity with the course gives him added confidence after making his debut in the race last year.

"I know the course now and know which direction the wind blows unless it changes again because you never really know. We also have pacers now, and there is a person we are confident in that can push all the way to 5km, because last year we were well off pace early on and that made it so much harder to run by yourself. In that department, we are already better and hopefully my fitness is good enough."

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Last year, the national half-marathon record holder expressed frustration with the quality of the pace-setting.

This time around, he will have the experienced Kenyan Isaac Kibet Ndiema, who boasts a personal best of 26:55, assisting at the front.

Despite that, Wildschutt insists his primary focus will remain on executing his own race plan rather than worrying about anyone else.

Wildschutt, who was discovered by the legendary Zola Budd, told SABC Sport that he is not fixated on reclaiming the national record from Chaumeton.

Instead, his main objective is to dip under 27 minutes and make history on African soil.

"I never even thought about that to be honest because Ive realised in the last few years that you can break so many records only for them to be broken the next day, so I'm not so focused about records any more. There are a lot of things I do in my life and things I'm interested in because if you are going to obsess over records, it's just going to result in sadness at the end of the day.

"For me, I just want to run sub-27, and I think it's going to be a mental thing because it will be the first time that's been done on African soil."