The record was the target. Khairi Bejiga had already run 26:51 twice in 2026, the exact mark Nicolas Kipkorir Kimeli set on this same three-lap Brasov circuit four years ago. He came to the 2026 tRUNsylvania International 10K on October 4 as the defending champion, with a pack of 12 going through halfway in 13:32, on record pace, Bejiga raising his arm to wave the others through and share the load.
The course record didn’t fall. But something rarer happened. Bejiga crossed in 27:01, one second up on training partner Nibret Kinde, and became the first athlete in six editions of this World Athletics Elite Label race to win back-to-back titles. Earlier that morning, 20-year-old Asefu Abreha had already run the bigger story, taking the women’s race in 30:16 in what Marathon Handbook reported as only her second road 10K. Ethiopia filled all six spots across both podiums.
2026 tRUNsylvania 10K Results: Men’s and Women’s Podiums
Men
| Pos | Athlete | Country | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Khairi Bejiga | Ethiopia | 27:01 |
| 2 | Nibret Kinde | Ethiopia | 27:02 |
Full men’s results not confirmed to complete podium at time of publication. Course record: 26:51, Nicolas Kipkorir Kimeli (Kenya), 2022. Sources: Athletics Illustrated, Athletics Weekly.
Women
| Pos | Athlete | Country | Time | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Asefu Abreha | Ethiopia | 30:16 | PB +1:16 |
| 2 | Aynadis Mebratu | Ethiopia | 30:19 | |
| 3 | Yenenesh Shimket | Ethiopia | 30:21 | World U20 road best* |
*Per Athletics Illustrated. Women’s course record: 30:07, Sheila Chepkirui (Kenya), 2022. Source: Brasov Running Festival.
Khairi Bejiga Wins the tRUNsylvania 10K Back to Back, First to Defend the Title in Six Editions
Bejiga first ran this course a year ago, winning on his road 10K debut in 26:54 at 19, the second-fastest U20 time ever recorded over the distance. He has since run 13:03 for 5000m on the track in Lausanne and clocked 26:51 twice in 2026, winning in Lille and finishing second in Valencia. The logical next target was the course record, which happens to be exactly that time.
It did not happen. The pack hit 5K in 13:32 but Bejiga was doing most of the pacemaking himself, gesturing at the men around him to take a turn at the front. By 8km, five were still in contention: Bejiga, Kinde, fellow Ethiopian Ayele Tadesse, Kenya’s Amos Bett and Uganda’s Kenneth Kiprop. Kiprop, one of the pre-race favourites, tripped and fell shortly after. A blistering 2:41 ninth kilometre then dropped Bett and Tadesse in succession, and it came down to Bejiga versus his training partner through the final straight. Kinde, the Ethiopian 10,000m champion, held him all the way to the last 200 metres. Bejiga found a gear his partner didn’t and won by one second.
He is now the only athlete, man or woman, to have won this race more than once. Per Athletics Illustrated, Bejiga has already set his sights on the Valencia Half Marathon on October 25, where he intends to significantly improve on his one previous result over the distance, a 1:02:04.
Asefu Abreha Shocks the Field to Win the Women’s tRUNsylvania 10K 2026
Seven women ran together through halfway. The race held its shape until the sixth kilometre, when Abreha, Mebratu and Shimket separated from the pack and held the gap all the way to the line. Five seconds covered all three of them. The pre-race favourites, who included some of the strongest names on the year’s road 10K circuit, did not reach the podium.
Abreha crossed first in 30:16, a personal best by more than a minute according to LetsRun, in what Marathon Handbook described as only her second road 10K. She had arrived in Brasov with an African Championships bronze in the 10,000m and very little road pedigree. Both Athletics Weekly and Athletics Illustrated described the result as an upset. The women’s course record of 30:07, set by Kenya’s Sheila Chepkirui in 2022, was never under threat. The performance was a statement on its own terms.
World U20 Road Best for Shimket, European U18 Record for Benhammou at Brasov 2026
Yenenesh Shimket’s 30:21 for third was more than a podium finish. Athletics Illustrated reported the time as a world U20 road best for 10K. Further down the field, 17-year-old French runner Meziane Benhammou contributed another number worth noting.
Age-Group Records at the 2026 tRUNsylvania 10K
Yenenesh Shimket (ETH): 30:21, reported by Athletics Illustrated as a world U20 10K road best.
Meziane Benhammou (FRA), age 17: 28:39, confirmed by the Brasov Running Festival as a European U18 record and a French U20 national record. Benhammou had run 30:40 at the same race in 2025.
Athletes from Djibouti and South Africa also set national records at the 2026 edition, per official event communications.
The tRUNsylvania 10K is a World Athletics Elite Label race and, per the official Brasov Running Festival site, ranks third in the world in the 10K category by competitive depth. It is the only Elite Label road race over 10K held in Southeast Europe. The 2026 edition was the sixth since the race launched as an international event in 2021. Full results are available at brasovrun.ro.