Gerda Steyn, who set another new course record, described her fourth consecutive victory in the Totalsports Two Oceans women’s ultra-marathon on Saturday as “amazing”.
Steyn, 33, ensured that Elana Van Zyl Meyer’s pre-race prediction came true and, unlike last year where she had to beat off stiff competition from Irvette Van Zyl, Steyn finished 12 minutes ahead of second-placed Amelework Bosho and smashed her own record in a time of 3:29:06.
Post-race a beaming Steyn, who was greeted by her husband Duncan Ross and family who held up a big flag which read “Go Gerda”, said: “To obtain the fourth consecutive win is amazing and it was the foremost goal. I didn’t want to focus on the record, chase a time and then be blowing too early in the race. It wasn’t until 50km where I crossed in three hours and seven minutes when I saw on the clock and knew it was record pace.”
The Comrades Marathon is next up for Steyn, who will be aiming to do the ultra-marathon double. She will be heading to the Alps for altitude and hill training to prepare for her next assignment in June and will be buoyed by her Two Oceans display.
Steyn removes all doubt with record breaking triumph at Two Oceans
Image: Peter Heeger/Gallo Images
Gerda Steyn, who set another new course record, described her fourth consecutive victory in the Totalsports Two Oceans women’s ultra-marathon on Saturday as “amazing”.
Steyn, 33, ensured that Elana Van Zyl Meyer’s pre-race prediction came true and, unlike last year where she had to beat off stiff competition from Irvette Van Zyl, Steyn finished 12 minutes ahead of second-placed Amelework Bosho and smashed her own record in a time of 3:29:06.
Post-race a beaming Steyn, who was greeted by her husband Duncan Ross and family who held up a big flag which read “Go Gerda”, said: “To obtain the fourth consecutive win is amazing and it was the foremost goal. I didn’t want to focus on the record, chase a time and then be blowing too early in the race. It wasn’t until 50km where I crossed in three hours and seven minutes when I saw on the clock and knew it was record pace.”
The Comrades Marathon is next up for Steyn, who will be aiming to do the ultra-marathon double. She will be heading to the Alps for altitude and hill training to prepare for her next assignment in June and will be buoyed by her Two Oceans display.
Givemore Mudzinganyama storms to victory in the men's section of the Two Oceans marathon
“Emotionally this win will be such a good boost for me,” said Steyn, who hails from Bloemfontein. “My training is where it should be and if I recover well physically in the next few weeks and gradually build back ahead of Comrades it will work really well.”
Runner-up Bosho of Ethiopia said through a translator: “I’m really happy to finish second and was so focused on my own race I never even noticed another woman behind me.”
That woman turned out to be Carla Natalia Molinaro, who is a Comrades gold medallist and has also set a record for having run the length of Great Britain. “I have been training really hard for the last four months and I thought I had a good run in me, but I didn’t think it would be quite as good,” she said with a smile.
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Gerda Steyn smashes her own Two Oceans record
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