After a standout 2025 season that saw him break four national records, Adriaan Wildschutt has set his sights on further record-breaking achievements in 2026.
Wildschutt will return to the Absa Run Your City Gqeberha 10km on March 1, where he aims to become the first athlete to clock a sub-27-minute 10km on African soil.
“It would mean a lot to run sub-27:00 on SA soil. It would probably be one of my highest achievements. It would certainly mean the world to me,” says the 27-year-old, who set an SA record of 27:28 on his Run Your City Series debut in “The Friendly City” last April, before Maxime Chaumeton eclipsed that mark with a 26:55 clocking in Romania six months later.
As his family, who had travelled from his hometown of Ceres in the Western Cape, watched on, the US-based Wildschutt produced a magnificent solo effort, taking the lead just after the 3km mark before romping home to a new SA 10km record in the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality.
But to dip under 27 minutes for the first time, the Olympian – who set a new SA Half Marathon record of 59:13 at the Valencia Half Marathon in October – says strong competition and good pacemaking will be essential.
“I want to emphasise how tall an order that is on this course, and I’d need competition. It wasn’t ideal running alone for most of the race last year. To even come close to sub-27, I need perfect weather [which is out of our control] and competitors who can push me all the way to the finish line. Pacers will also be extremely important and hopefully can pace even longer than 5km,” said the man who finished 13th at the World Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee, Florida, last weekend.
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