Two-time world 5000m medallist is part of the line-up in Brasov on October 5

Kenya’s two-time World Athletics Championships 5000m medallist Jacob Krop heads the men’s field for the fifth edition of the tRUNsylvania 10km men’s race on Sunday October 5.

The tRUNsylvania 10km, a World Athletics Elite Label Road Race and the most prestigious 10km road race in southeast Europe, forms part of famous Brasov Running Festival which also features a series of community and national-level races over distances from 800m to 5km.

Krop, 24, took 5000m silver at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon in 2022 and bronze the following year in Budapest as well as making the final of the Paris Olympics 5000m.

The second fastest man in the field with a 10km best of 27:04 from Valencia in 2023, Krop had a strong summer on the track this year highlighted by a 12:51.16 5000m at the Oslo Diamond League meeting in June.

Like all the leading runners on the start line in Brasov, his sights are set on breaking the tRUNsylvania 10km course record of 26:51 owned by another Kenyan, Nicolas Kipkorir Kimeli, since 2022.

Krop’s rivals in Brasov will include four other runners who have 10km bests of 27:15 or quicker and all of them will be aiming to go under 27 minutes next month.

Fellow Kenyans Vincent Kipkorir and Victor Kiprono have both made big breakthroughs this year and will be looking to improve further.

Kipkorir ran 27:08 in the German town of Herzogenaurach in April, which was just his second international race, while Kiprono clocked 27:10 in Castellon, Spain, in February in his very first race outside Kenya. The latter then followed up that performance with 27:11 in Tokyo just under three months later.

The quartet of top Kenyans contesting the 2025 tRUNsylvania 10km is completed by Daniel Kosen, who is actually the fastest man in the field with a personal best of 27:01 set when he finished third in the 2023 Valencia race, two places in front of Krop on that occasion.

Kosen is also familiar with the Brasov course, finishing fourth in 27:19 when he made his debut over the distance in 2022.

In addition to the leading Kenyan runners contesting this year's tRUNsylvania 10km, the reigning Ugandan cross country champion Kenneth Kiprop will make the trip to Romania. The 2024 World U20 5000m bronze medallist, now 20, can boast of a best of 27:09 from earlier this year.

The European challenge is led by Belgium’s 2023 European Cross Country Championships bronze medallist Robin Hendrix, who will be looking to get close to his country’s 10km record of 27:10 on the fast and flat course.

“I am very pleased to announce such a strong men’s field. With five men having run 27:15 or better I am optimistic that they will push each other to very good times and hopefully a course record, as the race goes from strength to strength every year,” said race director Daniel Santa.

"Some of the top road racers in the world will once again be on the start line of the tRUNsylvania 10km, and I believe it shows that in just five years we have been able to create an event that has had a major impact on the international running community," he added.

The Brasov Running Festival takes place against the backdrop of the spectacular Carpathian Mountains and close to the centre of the historic and picturesque Transylvanian city which can date its origins back to the 13th century.

The tRUNsylvania 10K will be streamed live via the Brasov Running Festival website brasovrun.ro with expert English-language commentary provided by the renowned broadcaster and two-time World Cross Country Championships silver medallist Tim Hutchings.

The women’s elite field for the 2025 tRUNsylvania 10km will be released next week.