Gerda Steyn broke her own Two Oceans record as she clocked up a fourth consecutive victory on Saturday morning, but then said she had not been chasing the time.
“To obtain the fourth consecutive win is amazing and it was the foremost goal," said the runner, who crossed the line to be greeted by her husband, Duncan Ross and family, holding up a big flag reading 'Go Gerda'.
“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.”
But she ran just as distance great Elana van Zyl Meyer had predicted.
Unlike last year where she had to beat off stiff competition from Irvette Van Zyl, Steyn finished 12 minutes ahead of the runner-up and smashed her own record in a time of 3:29:06.
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.
“Emotionally this win will be such a good boost for me,” said the humble 33-year-old 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.”
Second-placed Amelework Fikadu Bosho of Ethiopia said through a translator she was pleased with her effort.
“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 medalist 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.
Athletics
Triumphant Gerda Steyn says Two Oceans record wasn’t her focus
Image: Peter Heeger/Gallo Images
Gerda Steyn broke her own Two Oceans record as she clocked up a fourth consecutive victory on Saturday morning, but then said she had not been chasing the time.
“To obtain the fourth consecutive win is amazing and it was the foremost goal," said the runner, who crossed the line to be greeted by her husband, Duncan Ross and family, holding up a big flag reading 'Go Gerda'.
“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.”
But she ran just as distance great Elana van Zyl Meyer had predicted.
Unlike last year where she had to beat off stiff competition from Irvette Van Zyl, Steyn finished 12 minutes ahead of the runner-up and smashed her own record in a time of 3:29:06.
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.
“Emotionally this win will be such a good boost for me,” said the humble 33-year-old 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.”
Second-placed Amelework Fikadu Bosho of Ethiopia said through a translator she was pleased with her effort.
“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 medalist 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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