Cape Town - Running champion Gerda Steyn, who raced to her second record victory in successive years and her fourth successive win at the Totalsports Two Oceans 56km Marathon, said she used lessons from past running experiences to be the best version of herself on Saturday
“My main aim was simply to go for my fourth win.
“I was racing head-to-head with the Ethiopian athletes for the first half and on Chappies before I was able to move ahead.
“But I thought the record might come if I maintained a good pace.
“At 50km, I worked out that if I ran 3:30 per kilometre to the finish I still would still have a few extra seconds to enjoy the moment!”
Remarkably, Steyn did those calculations in her head, running at high intensity.
“This was a much more enjoyable race than last year’s one,” she said.
“I did experience a tough patch on Constantia Nek, but nothing like the ‘dark place’ I had to run through last year.
“But looking back, I’m pleased I had to endure that last year, as it gave me another tool which I can use in racing.”
Steyn crossed the tape in 3:29:06 and with it a record incentive which doubled her R250 000 first prize to half a million, and earned her the use of a KIA car for twelve months, both in South Africa and abroad.
Zimbabwe-born and Johannesburg-based Mudzinganyama, 33, had previously dabbled in the Two Oceans, having run to 12th position in the 2015 Half Marathon and having earned an impressive runners-up medal behind Kane Reilly in the 2018 Long Trail race.
After experiencing considerable success as a trail athlete – including a hat-trick of wins at the Cape Town Peace Trail 21km and partnering Edwin Sesipi to victory in the AfricanX team race – Mudzinganyama pondered his future as an athlete.
“I loved trail running, but you can’t easily make a living in that discipline,” Mudzinganyama admitted.
He said after working at an ASICS shoe store in Johannesburg, he decided to become a full-time professional athlete and joined up with Hendrick Ramaala and his club, Entsika
“I was struck by what our manager said at our club’s end of year meeting last November.
“He said that while you could earn some smaller income with running regular shorter-distance road races, if you ‘can catch one big-fish a year’ you could make a real living.
“He was talking about the big races in South Africa, including Two Oceans, Comrades, Cape Town Marathon and Soweto Marathon. I liked what he said and decided to try to catch my fish in the Two Oceans! Training with Coach (Hendrick) Ramaala’s running group at Zoo Lake has made a big difference and prepared me well for today.”
Cape Times