Cape Town - The was far away at the back of her mind for a significant part of the record breaking race, Gerda Steyn focused mainly on victory as she worked to rid herself of an Ethiopian quartet that threatened to end her dominance of the TotalSport Two Oceans Marathon.
But when she got past the 30km mark and spotted the clock, the Adidas-sponsored athlete licensed to Phantane Athletics Club knew she was good to rewriting the phenomenal mark she set last year.
“I tried to really not think about the record too much because the win was the first and foremost goal,” Steyn said at the finish line at the UCT upper campus sports ground Saturday morning following her fourth-successive victory at the 56km Mother City ultra “I did not want to chase the time and perhaps blow up too early. It was at the 30km mark when I saw the clock and so I knew I was on record pace. That helped calm me down because I knew I just had to maintain the pace and because my legs were still strong I knew I could still get the record.”
And get the record she did, Steyn shaving a good 36 seconds off her time she set last year to run a highly impressive 3:29:06 that is sure to stand for many years to come unless she goes for it next year again.
But with an unprecedented four successive victories at ‘the world’s most beautiful marathon’ under her name, surely Steyn will look to achieve bigger things elsewhere.
And that elsewhere is the Comrades Marathon down run from Pietermaritzburg to Durban on June 11. Steyn holds the Comrades record going in the opposite direction up north, her stunning 5:58:43 run in 2019 a feat that helped catapult her into the ultra superstar she currently is.
She’s done it again and in record time! @gerdarun wins the 2023 Two Oceans Marathon. She beat the record she set last year #TTOM2023
— IOL Sport (@IOLsport) April 15, 2023
📹: Phando Jikelo/African News Agency/ANA pic.twitter.com/0UYaiv7Xta
She is aware that to improve on Frith Van Der Merwe’s 5:54:43 time from 1989 would take some doing. But it was the same Van Der Merwe’s mark she obliterated at Two Oceans last year and having improved on it this morning would have definitely boosted her confidence ahead of “the Ultimate Human Race’ in June.
“Because I coach myself, there’s always a bit of doubt. But this is motivating,” she said of the victory that saw her beat the second placed female runner Anelework Bosho of Ethiopia by a massive ten minutes. “I think emotionally this is going to be such a huge boost for me building up to Comrades. But I need to recover well before I race Comrades. And there’s eight weeks to do that.”
While victory was common course for Steyn, the excitement of the men’s winner was understandably something out of this world – Zimbabwean Givemore Mudzinganyama coming from left field to reign victorious on debut.
A member of social running club Waterfall AC for many years despite some brilliant performances in the standard marathon that suggested he was of elite standards, the Asics Frontrunner eventually caught the eye of renowned coach Hendrick Ramaala who recruited him to Entsika AC.
“I’d like to thank my coach Henrick Ramaala and my club CEO (Zakhele Mkhize). Before I joined Entsika, I sat at their conference and I heard it said that if you can catch one big fish in a year it will be a big boost for your career. I asked myself which big fish can I cath in 2023 and I decided on Two Oceans. So this is my biggest achievement,“ explained the delighted athlete who managed to hold on and avoid a sprint finish as Dan Moselakwe of Nedbank Running Club and Hollywood’s Nkosikhona Mhlakwana threatened to catch up to him.
While it is unlikely Mudzinganyama would step up to the Comrades Marathon, these duo were top ten finishers last year and will no doubt have – like Steyn - gained ample confidence to tackle the big race out in KwaZulu-Natal come June.
@Tshilliboy