Maxime Chaumeton ran the race of his life on Sunday, producing one of the best road running performances ever achieved by a South African when he shattered the national men's 10km road running record.

Competing at the Brasov Running Festival in Romania, Chaumeton took second place in 26:55, edged out by just one second in a hard-fought contest against Ethiopian athlete Khairi Bejiga who won in 26:54.

In a fast race, the top 10 athletes all ran under 28 minutes.

Chaumeton, the national 5 000m champion on the track, obliterated the SA 10km record of 27:28 which was set by Adriaan Wildschutt in Gqeberha in April.

Delivering an incredible effort, 25-year-old Chaumeton also sliced 41 seconds off his personal best set in Brasov last year, becoming the first SA athlete to dip under 27 minutes over the 10km distance.

"Congratulations to Maxime, his coach and support team! We are proud of this achievement and wish him further conquests. It is always nice when there are new achievers because it grows our pool of high performers in the country. We look forward to others finding inspiration in what they do and to keep going," praised James Moloi, the President of Athletics South Africa.