Bejiga Returns to Brasov to Defend tRUNsylvania 10km Title

Ethiopian distance runner Khairi Bejiga will return to Brasov, Romania, on Sunday, October 4, determined to become the first man to successfully defend the tRUNsylvania 10km title and break the course record.

Bejiga stunned the distance-running world last year when, aged just 19, he won the 2025 edition in 26:54, the second-fastest time ever recorded on the Brasov course and the equal third-fastest 10km performance in the world that year.

The Ethiopian also equalled Kenya’s Sebastian Sawe’s record for the fastest 10km debut, while his 26:54 was the second-fastest time ever recorded by an Under-20 athlete.

Bejiga has since lowered his personal best to 26:51, running the time twice in 2026. He first clocked 26:51 to finish second in Valencia in January before matching the mark while winning in Lille, France, in April.

He will now attempt to go even faster in Brasov, where Kenya’s Nicolas Kipkorir Kimeli has held the course record of 26:51 since 2022.

Although Bejiga has not raced over 10km since his Lille victory five months ago, he has continued to show good form on the track, improving his 5000m personal best to 13:03.27 at last month’s Lausanne Diamond League meeting.

Bejiga will, however, face a strong challenge in his bid for back-to-back titles.

South Africa’s Maxime Chaumeton, who pushed Bejiga all the way in last year’s race before finishing second in a South African record of 26:55, will return for another crack at the Ethiopian.

Kenya’s Silas Senchura also arrives with a 26:58 personal best after finishing fourth in the high-quality Castellon 10km earlier this year. He also won bronze in the 10,000m at the African Championships in May.

Ethiopian Kuma Girma, another 26:58 performer, will also line up, while Kenya’s Laban Kosgei, eighth in Brasov last year, has improved his 10km best to 26:59 in Lille this year.

The field also includes Kenya’s Kelvin Kiplagat, Cornelius Kipkosegei and John Lomoni Ainum, Uganda’s Kenneth Kiprop, Kenya’s Kevin Chesang, Spain’s Said Mechaal and Ethiopian steeplechase specialist Getnet Wale.

Wale has a 27:33 road 10km best but owns an impressive track pedigree, having finished fourth in the 3000m steeplechase at the 2021 Olympic Games and the 2019 and 2022 World Championships.

Race Director Daniel Santa believes the sixth international edition of the tRUNsylvania 10K could produce the fastest race in the event’s history.

‘This is the sixth edition of the tRUNsylvania 10K as an international event and I believe it will be the best ever,’ Santa said.

‘In many respects, it has also been the easiest year in terms of assembling the elite fields as the demand was overwhelming.’

Santa believes the three-lap course is now well established as one of the fastest 10km circuits in the world.

‘If a runner is ready to run fast, here is the place to do it and I no longer need to convince the world’s best of that fact,’ he said.

He added: ‘I am slightly surprised that the course record has survived since 2022 but, although there are never any guarantees, I have a feeling that this year it will finally fall and maybe Khairi will be the first runner, man or woman, to win back-to-back titles here.’

The tRUNsylvania 10K, a World Athletics Elite Label Road Race, is part of the two-day Brasov Running Festival, which also features community races, children’s events, trail-to-road races and national-level road races.