Johannesburg – Caroline Wöstmann may be on the cusp of yet another historic feat should she successfully defend her Comrades Marathon title in a week’s time, but her focus is rather on winning the race than making history.
Defending her Two Oceans title earlier this year set her on course to another historic achievement at this year’s 89km “down” run.
Should she cross the line first, Wöstmann would become the first woman to claim the rare double of premier ultra-marathons in two consecutive years.
Derek Preiss is the only person to have achieved the Comrades-Two Oceans double when he won both races consecutively in 1974 and 1975 in his early 20s.
“I don’t pay too much attention to the stats. I am more interested in doing my best in the race,” Wöstmann said.
This year’s women’s field will not include the famous Russian twins Elena and Olesya Nurgalieva, but Wöstmann still expects a close tussle for the title.
The line-up includes defending “down” run champion Ellie Greenwood, who will spearhead a strong foreign charge.
“It is a good and strong field, and Comrades is a tough race so you just don’t know what is going to happen on the day,” says Wöstmann. “You can be in the best shape of your life and you just have a really bad day.
“In any other race they (fellow runners) could be miles behind you but they just have the most incredible day at Comrades, so you just don’t know what will happen. It is just one of those races and that makes it so exciting.
“I think it is actually going to be quite a close race, and there will be some kicking and punching at the end.”
Last year Wöstmann made history when she became only the fourth ultra-runner to win both the Two Oceans and Comrades races in one year.
She was also the first South African winner of the Comrades Marathon since Rae Bisschoff in 1998.
Crossing the line in first place completed a historic day after Gift Kelehe also claimed the title, making it the first time since 1993 that local athletes won both the men’s and women’s titles.
Since then Wöstmann has added another accolade when she won the Om die Dam ultra-marathon to become only the second woman after road-running legend Frith van der Merwe to win all three titles.
While Wöstmann has been thrust into the limelight and has become a household name, this has not affected her performances and approach on the road.
“It doesn’t feel that different from a race tactic point of view. My life is different in many ways and when I think about running a race I don’t feel that it impacts anything.
“Last year I had even more pressure going into Comrades, because of Two Oceans, and I came out of nowhere and everybody was asking who is this person?
“The public had time to adjust, and I’ve had time to adjust, and I don’t think my mindset is any different than it was.”
Rumours have been circulating that Wöstmann is targeting Van der Merwe’s ‘down’ run record of 5:54:43 set in 1989.
But the runner remains adamant that her first goal is defending her title although she admits she would be delighted to do it in record-breaking time.
“I would just like to try and win, and if that is a record time, then it will be a very exciting thing for me. It is 90 kilometres and everybody needs to run the best race they can, and if I start too conservatively and finish strong and don’t manage to catch someone up ahead, it’ll be silly me.
“Hopefully I’ll do what I believe is the best way for me to run the race on the day.”
– The Sunday Independent