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Dutchman and Comrades Marathon champion Piet Wiersma has set his sights on the Hollywoodbets 10km race in Durban on Sunday to test his short-distance speed.
Wiersma will come up against tough competitors in a star-studded line-up that includes Stephen Mokoka, Elroy Gelant, Thabani Mosiako, Mathews Leeto and Kabelo Mulaudzi, all of them capable of winning the race.
Wiersma, who won the Comrades up-run in June this year, said this will be his first 10km race in years and can't wait to see how fast he is in a short-distance run.
"I feel okay and I just want to say it is an honour for me to be here alongside the best runners from SA, and I have had people saying they want to run Comrades and move up the distance," Wiersma told the media during a press conference in Durban on Friday.
"For me, I have ambitions to move down the distance and right now for the first time, I'm training for a marathon and I'm halfway in my build-up with two months of training in Kenya.
"Next week I will go back and do two more months. I'm excited to run a fast race like this."
Wiersma is currently preparing for the Valencia Marathon on December 1. He said the race on Sunday forms part of his preparation.
"It has been six years since my last 10km race. It's been a while and I can tell you... if I don't run close to my personal best [around 30 plus] then I will be having a bad day," he said.
The race organisers have also injected a R100,000 prize purse which will be split for any male or female runner who breaks the SA record during the race.
This bonus is in addition to the R37,500 prize money for the first runner home, meaning the record breaker could walk away with an additional R50,000, bringing their total potential winnings to an impressive R87,500.
Mulaudzi, the defending champion after winning the race last year, has downplayed his chances on Sunday, saying all he wants is a podium finish.
"The course is nice and fast, but I don't want to pressure myself to defend the title, I just want a top three and fast time," Mulaudzi said.
In the women's race, Cian Oldknow will try to defend her title, but she will face stiff competition against Tayla Kavanagh, Neheng Khatala and Cacisile Sosibo.
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