May 31, Burundian-born Spanish athlete Rodrigue Kwizera ran 26:01 in the 10 km at the Madrid Vintage Run, sponsored by Total Energies., faster thanYomif Kejelcha(Yomif Kejelcha) ran 26:31 in Castellón, Spain in February last year — a full 30 seconds slower, and the race pace reached an astonishing2:36 per kilometer!
Although the 26:01 performance is enough to shock the athletics world, because of the course’s characteristics this result cannot be ratified as an official 10 km world record.Under the rules, the Madrid Vintage Run course has more than 160 m of net downhill (negative elevation), and the straight-line distance between start and finish exceeds the limit, classifying it as a downhill-aided course — so the current 10 km world record still belongs to Yomif Kejelcha.Kwizera had set a clear pre-race goal: to break the course record of 26:34 set by Kenyan Weldon Langat in 2022, and he ended up substantially lowering that course record. He said he will return to this course next year to try to lower it again.The 26-year-old Kwizera’s 10 km road PB is 26:54, ranking him 13th in the world. His 10 km PB is 31 seconds faster than the current Spanish national 10 km record; this time in Madrid was 1 minute 24 seconds faster than the Spanish national record.He and Savi — who went sub-2 this year — both belong to 2 Running Club, arguably the strongest running club on Earth. He finished 7th in the men's 10,000 m at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest. His half-marathon PB is 58:16, also ranking 13th in the world.This recently naturalized Spanish athlete will likely go on to rewrite Spain’s road and athletics records across the board — what will his next Spanish or even European record be?
