Once is good. Twice is great. Three times is incredible. But four times? Make that phenomenal.
Gerda Steyn entered her name into local running folklore with a fourth successive victory in the TotalSports Two Oceans Marathon in Cape Town this morning.
And it was not just a win alright! For Steyn smashed the course record that she set last year into smithereens, the 33-year-old lass from Bothaville in the Free State breasting the tape in 3:29:06 – some 36 seconds faster than her 2022 winning mark.
While her victory was never really in doubt, there was a time early on in the race when the four-pronged threat of Nedbank Running Club’s Ethiopian quartet could provide a potential banana peel for the Adidas-sponsored athlete.
For most of the first half of the race, the Ethiopians stuck to Steyn like a rash – allowing her to do all the hard work as they trailed her. But a burst of pace here and there saw the Adidas-sponsored athlete dropping them off one by one until there was only the stubborn Tineebeb Ali to contend with.
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
Steyn tried to shrug her off by performing some fartleks – quick bursts of pace – as they went down Champman’s Peak to open up a sizeable gap only for Ali to catch up a little later. She managed to leave her for good after a third such attempt and from there on it was just the Phantane Athleics Club startlet against the clock.
Her trademark smile adorning her face, Steyn cruised along – constantly checking her watch to ensure she was on the correct pace – and left some male elites in her wake as she approached the finish line.
Her entry into the UCT upper campus sports grounds met up with great cheers from the crowd as she waved to them, her face beaming in the knowledge that she was due to achieve the goal she’d set for herself.
🇿🇦 Gerda Steyn wins her FOURTH consecutive Women's Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon!
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) April 15, 2023
She does it in record time, smashing the one she set in last year's race. An unbelievable achievement 👏#TTOM2023 pic.twitter.com/dsxUBM41Or
The victory now sees her become the most successful runner of all time in the famous 56km ultra marathon with four victories, leaving behind the trio of Beverly Malan, Angelina Sephooa and Olesya Nurgalieva who have won the race three times.
Steyn also adds her name alongside that of the late Thopson Magawana who set Two Oceans records in two successive races with victories in 1987 and 1988.
And just like Magawana’s mark which is yet to be broken, there is every indication that the time Steyn ran this morning will last for a very long time – unless she returns next year to improve it.
In the men’s race Zimbabwean Givemore Mudzinganyama reigned supreme on debut, the Entsika Athletics Club runner beating pre-race favourites Dan Moselakwe of Nedbank Running Club and Hollywood Running Club’s Nkosikhona Mohlakwana into second and third places respectively.
It was a fascinating race that threatened to end in a three-way sprint finish but the novice Asics Frontnner held his nerve for the biggest pay-cheque of his career (R250 000).
But Gerda Steyn was the star of the show, her scintillating run so fast that she beat the second placed Anelework Bosho of Ethiopia by a good ten minutes with Carla Mollinari coming in third.
@Tshiliboy