Both men's and women's winners of the revitalised South African 10km road running championships shrugged off recent poor form and malaise with impressive performances on the fast, flat three-lap course based at King's Park Athletic Stadium in Durban on Sunday.

The championships were last held four years ago and were marked on Sunday by a South Africa junior record being set by Tshamano Setone (Central Gauteng Athletics).

Shadrack Hoff (Athletics Gauteng North) and Poppy Mlambo (CGA) both spoke casually of their victories in ideal warm, windless conditions saying they had used the old strategy of staying close to the leaders and judging the right moment to make their final sprints for the line.

Hoff, who said he had come back from a lacklustre performance in the marathon at the Helsinki World Rhampionships, was always among the front runners.

Hoff was always among the front runners

Coolboy Ngamole (CGA) led the leaders into the second half of the race, ahead of Lungile Gongoa (Transkei), George Mofokeng (CGA), Hoff and Norman Dlolo (Vaal Triangle). But by the eight-kilometre-mark Richard Mavuso (CGA) had gone out in front to lead junior runner Setone (CGA) by 10m, closely followed by Hoff with Ngamole and Samuel Segoaba (Free State) just keeping in touch.

Setone caught Mavuso at the nine-kilometre-mark with Hoff third and with 400m to go Hoff kicked hard to overtake them both and finish strongly down the track inside the King's Park Athletic Stadium to win in 28 minutes 34 seconds, four seconds ahead of Mavuso, with Setone third across the line and credited with a new national junior record of 28:40.

Ngamole was fourth in 28:45 and Dlomo fifth in 28:49. Setone clipped two seconds off the long-standing SA junior 10km record set in 1986 by Terry Thornton.

"When you're not in 100 percent condition for a race of this calibre you have to run smart," quipped Hoff at the after race briefing. I was so down after the Helsinki fiasco, when the whole marathon team let everyone down, especially Leonard Chuene, who said Athletics SA had invested so much in us and we had failed them.

"When we got back I decided to first take a break and then to concentrate on my job with Correctional Services in Pretoria. I also did some coaching at a school and helped them out with some running shoes.

'When you're not in 100 percent condition for a race of this calibre you have to run smart'

"So I actually came to Durban out of shape, and since I'm 32 years old now, decided I would have to run smart if I was going to keep up with the other guys and maybe snatch the title.

With half-marathon champion, Hendrick Ramalla, not running I knew I was in with a chance if I could just stay with the bunch."

Setone is also the men's Under-18 junior eight kilometre cross-country champion, while Mavuso was second in the men's 12km event and Hoff ninth.

Hoff said that all distance runners were looking forward to the new Nedbank Series of marathons and half-marathons.

"We will all be staying at home here in South Africa next year to run in them," he said.

Mlambo has also experienced problems, suffering from asthmatic-like conditions and has been under treatment by a doctor since the World Student Games in August, when she came in sixth in the 5 000m.

She then ran fifth in the Spar Women's 10km in Cape Town and decided to come on to Durban and try her luck. Like Hoff, she was always well placed among the leaders, and once challenger Irvette van Blerk faded, was always going to be the one to beat, along with the Phalula twins, Lebogang and Lebo (CGA).

But the surprise factor in the race was the superb run by barefoot Western Province junior, Lena Lotter. The 17-year-old Bloemhof High School pupil from Stellenbosch, winner of the women's under-19 junior 4km cross-country title this year, who was a challenger from start to finish.

It was only Mlambo's experience that kept Lotter at bay during the final stages. The first KwaZulu-Natal woman to finish was Suzette Botha.

• This article was originally published on page 6 of The Mercury on October 24, 2005