A hat-trick of victories and a course record to boot. What more can Gerda Steyn want out of the Two Oceans Marathon?
When you are as talented and driven an athlete as the lass from sleepy Bothaville in the Free State is, there is clearly always a higher bar to scale. Why else would Steyn be returning to the race at which she has achieved the ultimate?
“Last year’s race was a real highlight,” she reflected on her incredible 3:29:42 run and looks ahead to Saturday’s 52nd running of the 56km Mother City ultra.
“Obtaining the course record that stood for a long time, I think over 30 years [she broke Frith van der Merwe’s 3:20:26 record from 1989], was very, very special to me. It was something I had been working hard towards and dreaming about for a long time, especially after 2019 when I missed it by under a minute. So that was a real highlight for me.”
Why go back then? Don’t they say it is best to get out on a high?
“But I feel like there is still enough for me to come back for at the Two Oceans Marathon. I still want to come back and defend the title and obtain a new record of four wins in a row which has never happened in the history of the race,” she explained.
I am not going to Cape Town for a training run for Comrades, like some people often think elites do. We have eight weeks in between to recover for the Comrades after Two Oceans. So with great attention to detail in your training, it is possible to race both.
— Gerda Steyn
The only other runners to have completed a hat-trick of victories are Monica Drogemuller (1990-1992) and Angelina Sephooa (1997-1999).
Victory on Saturday will send Steyn into a stratosphere that could take many moons to be matched, yet even after that don’t bet on the running star — still only 33, which is not old in running terms and who also holds both the national marathon and the Comrades Marathon Up Run records — stopping running Two Oceans.
“I love the race. I think it is one of the most amazing races in the world and I can’t see myself not being a part of it, even though I’ve already achieved the record last year. So, for me, it is good to come back and defend my title and just to have another great race. Also I love the city. I love how the organisers get the race ready for us and that’s my motivation to keep coming back.”
Steyn believes she has prepared well and can’t wait to toe the start line: “I am feeling very ready and excited for this year’s race. Training has gone really well and I spent the final training block in Joburg running the hills in the altitude, which was ideal for my preparations.”
Prepared as she is, Steyn knows it won’t be about pitching up and sauntering to victory — not even with the absence of her good friend Irvette Van Zyl, who ran her close last year as they both dipped below Van Der Merwe’s record.
“Irvette won’t be here because she is injured, but the women who finished in third and fourth are back and there will be more from Kenya and Ethiopia whom I am 100% convinced will give me a good run for my money.”
Yet such was her splendid run last year that it is hard to imagine either of Anelework Fikado Bosho or Shelmith Muriuki standing in her way to victory. The Ethiopian and Kenyan finished a good four minutes behind her and with Steyn set on a record-setting fourth successive victory, on a course she knows so well, it will take splendid running by any one of her competitors to deny her glory.
While her focus is on the Two Oceans, Steyn also has her sights set on the Comrades Marathon she missed last year. She has always spoken of her desire to add the down run record to her collection and will no doubt be out to do that on June 11.
“My plan is to race both Two Oceans and the Comrades,” Steyn said, explaining that she does not subscribe to the generally-held notion that you cannot really race the two in one year and be successful.
“I am not going to Cape Town for a training run for Comrades, like some people often think elites do. We have eight weeks in between to recover for the Comrades after Two Oceans. So with great attention to detail in your training, it is possible to race both and I am excited that I will be racing both this year.”
First up is Saturday’s Two Oceans Marathon she has already won three times and at which she will line up as the record-holder.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.