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Gerda set for seven at the Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon, powered by BYD
Not since the heady days of Bruce Fordyce has a single athlete dominated South African ultra-running to the extent the Johannesburg athlete did in the 1980s, but Gerda Steyn is getting close. Some would argue she is right up there now.
Fordyce’s set of nine victories at the Comrades Marathon is the platform on which he gave expression to his impressive ‘lang-asem’ skill set, but he also chalked up a number of other impressive victories, most notably a 100km road race against the world’s best ultra-distance athletes in Stellenbosch in 1989, the USA 50 mile championship and the London to Brighton 55 miler which he won on three occasions.
While Steyn has a way to go to emulate Fordyce’s nine victories at Comrades, she boasts a greater range of distance running ability, having set a national record for the standard marathon, a distance in which she represented South Africa at two Olympics Games. She has also achieved a spread of impressive results over shorter distances, including on trails.
But what sets her apart from Fordyce is her superb record at the Two Oceans Marathon. Fordyce only once raced the Oceans competitively, placing an impressive 4th in 1983. Instead, he used the Oceans as an essential part of his Comrades training, running just under four hours for a silver medal most years.
While few would dispute Steyn’s mantle as ‘Queen of Comrades’ after her four resounding victories in that race and record-breaking feats since 2019, Steyn makes no secret of the fact that Two Oceans is a favourite race for her.
After feeling her way cautiously through to 14th place in 4:15:44 in her first Oceans in 2016, Steyn has knocked it out of sight. She won her second attempt, clocking a relatively modest 3:39:32 in 2018, before her 3:31:28 win the following year suggested it would not be a question of if but when she would break Frith van der Merwe’s 30-year-old record.
COVID only delayed the inevitable and she smashed the record over three successive years, taking it from 3:29:45 in 2022 to 3:26:54 in 2024, before chalking up another win last year for good measure.
She is strongly favoured to chalk up her seventh as she lines up at the 2026 Totalsports Two Oceans 56km powered by BYD this weekend.
“I know I have done it before and so I believe that I can do it again,” said Hollywood AC’s top runner at a media launch at a city hotel this week. “But I don’t ever allow myself to be too comfortable just because I have won it six times. I know that I have to put in 110% of my effort because every single athlete is going to be focused on winning this race.”
Steyn concedes she will have to be at her very best to win The World’s Most Beautiful Marathon for a seventh time.
“I must respect the quality of the field. My guess is that it won’t be a one woman show. We’ve got such amazing runners this year and I can only control how I run – and make sure that I run my very, very best.
“If everyone else around me is suffering and I’m suffering too, then I will perform the best in that situation. I know it’s going to be a big challenge. But it means so much to me, so I’ll give everything I can to achieve that goal.”
Does Steyn have it in her to improve her superb 2024 Two Oceans race and take the mark closer to 3:20 than 3:30, to a time which would have been good enough to have won most of the initial six Two Oceans Marathons overall?
The Pretoria, Dubai and French Alps-based athlete has always been humble in assessing her talents and generous and gracious when referencing her that of her rivals. But she is also honest and spoke openly about her prospects of earning yet another record-breaking cash bonanza from the title sponsor.
“To talk about the record before you’ve broken the record was always nerve-wracking,” Steyn admitted. “(It’s a bit easier) once you’ve broken it and you’re looking to improve it a bit more, but I still feel nervous talking about it!
“It really comes down to what you’ve done in preparation. I can say that my preparation has gone really well. I’ve trained longer and at higher altitude than ever before. And I’ve come down to sea level a little earlier to ensure I recover better.
“Everything about my training has gone well. So I hope that I can follow the same routine I’ve set out in training during the race. Of course, there’s a lot I can’t control but what I can say is that I’m going to give my very best on race day.”
Steyn was not wrong in respecting the quality of the field, with several athletes ready to pounce at the sign of any weakness or vulnerability from Steyn.
History will judge her Hollywood teammate, Irvette van Zyl, as deeply unfortunate to have hit her ultra-marathon peak in the Gerda era. At any other time, Van Zyl would have had her name engraved on the trophy on several occasions and been regarded as one of the all-time Two Oceans greats. To be fair, she still should be.
Van Zyl ended her Two Oceans Half Marathon rein with two wins and a tally of six gold medals out of eight starts. Of her three successful attempts at the Ultra (2019, 2022 and 2024), she has placed second to Steyn on each occasion, twice finishing inside Frith van der Merwe’s former ‘impossible’ record. She could be forgiven for wishing Steyn would crash out of the race on a Chappies cats-eye… just once!
Van Zyl will again be competitive and favoured for a podium position, but the 41 year old Kenyan, Shelmith Muriuki, has been making ultra-marathon waves in South Africa in recent years. She became the first black female athlete to podium at the Comrades Marathon, finishing third last year, while taking the race to Steyn in last year’s Two Oceans.
Muriuki was right in contention to halfway before losing contact as she fumbled for her drink at a refreshment station. “Next time you won’t get away that easily” joked the Kenyan to Steyn at the prize-giving and she will be fired up to contend even more strongly this time around.
Lesotho’s Neheng Khatala is one of Southern Africa’s most consistent marathoners and is well-placed to bag her second Two Oceans podium, after finishing third last year while a number of other athletes, including SA-based UK athlete, Carla Molinaro, Kenyan Margaret Jepchumba and local runner, Deanne Laubscher, add quality and depth to the field.
While the women’s competition could prove the race highlight, with none of their male counterparts looking up to challenging legendary Thompson Magawana’s 38-year record of 3:03:44, a lead group of more than thirty can be expected to head the race through the half marathon mark at Fish Hoek and twenty through halfway at the start of Chappies.
Defending champion from the Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho, Joseph Khoarahlane Seutloali, is quietly confident about retaining his title, although some of his rivals were bolder in their predictions at the media event.
While Seutloali kept his cards close to his chest, 2024 winner, Onalenna Khonkhobe, stated he is ready to right the wrongs of 2025 when he did not finish the race and is prepared to challenge the clock if needed.
“This is my show,” he declared when asked about the possibility of the men delivering the race’s first sub 3:09 clocking since ultra marathon legend Bongumusa Mthembu ran 3:08:39 to win in 2019.
Southern Cape athlete, Lloyd Bosman, is determined to prove his second place in 2024, when he came within an ace of victory, was no fluke, while former Cape Town athlete, Sithembiso Mqhhele, has gone from strength to strength since his move north and proved his current form by finishing second in the Peninsula Marathon in February.
The race gets underway from Newlands Main Road at 05h15 on Saturday 11 April, with the first runners expected across the line at the UCT Green Mile shortly after 08h15.
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