‘As long as my body allows’: Gerda has ‘hunger inside’ for more Comrades glory

Gerda Steyn is happy to be building a legacy as a Comrades Marathon great and South Africa’s undisputed ultra-marathon queen and says she will keep trying to win the race as long as her body allows.

The 35-year-old six-time Two Oceans Marathon winner clinched her third Comrades victory in succession and fourth overall in Sunday’s 98th down run race that finished at the People’s Park in Durban.

Steyn shattered Frith van der Merwe's 34-year-old Comrades Marathon down run record in 2023, finishing in 5 hrs 44 min 54 sec and set a new up run record last year of 5:49:46.

Her 5:51:19 on Sunday came in a race that was 2km longer than the last down course and was good enough to be just over four minutes clear of second-placed Russian Aleksandra Morozova. With four wins, Steyn joined Maureen Holland with the second-most titles after Russian Elena Nurgalieva’s eight.

She was asked, at 35, how many more she thinks she can win.

“I stand on the shoulders of so many people before me who have come to the Comrades and proven themselves to have a legacy, proven themselves year after year. It’s inspirational to see that,” Steyn said.

“Every year is different, you never know what’s going to happen on the day. To establish yourself as something other than a one-hit wonder is very important.

“For young people looking for someone to look up to, it’s important to show this is a lifestyle, it’s a career — it’s not something you just experience.

“To know people before me have done it gives me confidence to know I am on the right path and this is actually possible.

“But, ja, with that hunger inside of me, I know that from after Comrades today [Sunday], from tomorrow onwards there will not be a day — maybe some hours, maybe when I’m sleeping — but there are very few hours in the day I don’t think of Comrades.

“It is so under my skin and something I am so passionate about. I feel so honoured and privileged to be a part of that.

“So ja, the hunger inside of me is bigger than ever and I’ll do it as long as my body allows.”

Morozova recovered from cramping just past halfway to put pressure on Steyn, especially as the South African showed mild signs of discomfort coming into Durban, where the gap was close to two minutes at one stage.

Morozova’s win in the 2018 Comrades came in a slow 6:17:48. That race was run over 89.885km, 9.5m less than the 89.98km distance on Sunday. That means Morozova’s 5:55:56 for second was a lot faster.

She also beat her up time of 6:05:12 by just over 10 minutes, a feat more impressive considering she cramped and had to stop and walk a few times just past halfway, going through the Thousand Hills stretch. She recovered but said she ran with pain after that.

“Today I had a really good feeling and I think that was the best shape for Comrades I ever had,” the 35-year-old said.

“Until 30km I kept pace with Gerda and at that point it felt like I could keep that speed up until the end of the race. But after 30km it became clear that [the first third] was just a warm-up for Gerda.

“I also remembered that anyone who tried to keep pace with Gerda almost always had a bad finish. So I decided to let Gerda run her race and to play my own game.

“After 50km I had a big problem with a hamstring cramp and I made three stops to stretch it. In the last 40km I ran with pain so I am really glad I held on to my second place because at one point I thought the race was almost over for me.

“This is my fastest pace at Comrades so I’m really glad at how I finished.”

They may both be 35, but Steyn and Morozova — the only two women's winners of the last five years — have more to offer the great race and potentially some epic clashes between them in the next few years.