Records Through the Years
ROAD RUNNING
Xaba used her speed over the shorter distance to close out the race in Cape Town
Record-breakers !
Glenrose Xaba takes the win , and the SA Record , at the 2024 Sanlam Cape Town Marathon
They say that records are meant to be broken , but for many years it appeared the South African Records for the marathon distance were simply out of reach , with the women ’ s record standing since 1996 and the men ’ s record since 1999 . However , in the last few years , the country ’ s top female marathoners have finally surpassed the best times of the 90s , and exciting times lie ahead for South African women ’ s marathoning . – BY SEAN FALCONER with RIËL HAUMAN
SA Record Progression
With women only being allowed to officially participate in marathons in South Africa since the mid-1970 , the first officially recognised women ’ s national mark was only set in 1974 . Since then , the national record has been improved 20 times , but the majority of these new marks were set in the 70s ( 5 records ) and 80s ( 11 records ). With just two records set in the 1990 , and then a huge gap to the 2020s , it is now an exciting time for women ’ s marathoning in SA with three records finally coming in the last few years !
3:10:10 |
Suzanne Gaylard |
Stellenbosch , 14 Sep 74 |
3:05:02 |
Suzanne Gaylard |
King William ’ s Town , 26 Oct 74 |
3:01:32 |
Clare Taylor |
Johannesburg , 3 Feb 79 |
2:57:26 |
Clare Taylor |
East London , 24 Mar 79 |
2:56:28 |
Clare Taylor |
Stellenbosch , 15 Sep 79 |
2:51:55 |
Clare Taylor |
Cape Town , 8 Mar 80 |
2:46:33 |
Sonja Laxton |
Johannesburg , 1 Sep 80 |
2:44:28 |
Judy Ryan |
Stellenbosch , 13 Sep 80 |
2:43:16 |
Sonja Laxton |
New York , 26 Oct 80 |
2:43:49 |
Isavel Roche-Kelly |
Faure , 12 Sep 81 |
2:42:27 |
Isavel Roche-Kelly |
Stellenbosch , 21 Nov 81 |
2:36:44 |
Sonja Laxton |
Kuils River , 30 Jun 84 |
2:35:45 |
Adelene Joubert |
Port Elizabeth , 4 May 85 |
2:35:44 |
Sonja Laxton |
Stellenbosch , 13 Sep 86 |
2:33:39 |
Annette Falkson |
Cape Town , 30 Apr 88 |
2:30:35 |
Frith van der Merwe |
Port Elizabeth , 25 Feb 89 |
2:27:36 |
Frith van der Merwe |
Port Elizabeth , 24 Feb 90 |
2:26:35 |
Colleen de Reuck |
Berlin , 29 Sep 96 |
2:25:28 |
Gerda Steyn |
Siena , 11 Apr 21 |
2:24:03 |
Gerda Steyn |
Valencia , 3 Dec 23 |
2:22:22 |
Glenrose Xaba |
Cape Town , 20 Oct 24 |
Glenrose Xaba is currently without peer in South African distance running . In a stunning marathon debut , in less than perfect conditions , at the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon on 20 October , she clocked 2:22:22 to take the women ’ s title , obliterating the previous course record of 2:24:02 , and more importantly , setting a new SA Record by surpassing Gerda Steyn ’ s 2:24:03 , run in Valencia , Spain last December . Xaba ’ s time is also a new SA all-comers record – the fastest women ’ s marathon time ever run on SA soil – and is also the fastest women ’ s time ever posted on the African continent .
Added to that , Xaba is the first SA athlete , male or female , to hold the SA records for the 10km and marathon at the same time . Not even the great Elana Meyer , whose 22-year-old 10km record Xaba surpassed with 31:12 in July , achieved this particular double . And it was Xaba ’ s phenomenal speed over the shorter distances – she is the current SA Champion in both the 5000m and 10,000m on the track , as well as the 10km and half marathon on the road – helped her to seal her victory in the final 1.5km over the tenacious Mare Dibaba , the 2015 World Champion from Ethiopia . The leading women went through halfway in 1:12:17 , and Xaba clocked 1:10:05 for the second half .
Records Through the Years
The new SA Record run by Xaba in 2024 is just the 20th time the national mark has been improved since 1974 , when women were officially allowed to participate in marathon-distance races in South Africa and the women ’ s record was first set . On 14 September of that year , Suzanne Gaylard clocked 3:10:10 in the Stellenbosch Marathon , and she would go on to improve the record to 3:05:02 just over a month later . Her record stood until 1979 , when Clare Taylor posted a remarkable four consecutive national marks in just over a year , including becoming the first South African woman to dip under three hours .
The first woman under 2:50 was Sonja Laxton , when she clocked 2:46:33 in September 1980 , but her record stood for just 12 days before it was beaten by Judy Ryan , only for Laxton to take the record back six weeks later in New York . The late Isavel Roche-Kelly , after winning a second consecutive Comrades Marathon in 1981 , then switched focus to the marathon and set two national marks in September and November of that year , and her mark of 2:42:27 would
Isavel Roche-Kelly set two SA Records in just over two months in 1981
Sonja Laxton broke the SA Marathon Record four times in her stellar career
Images : Johann Minnaar , Felix Dlanga & courtesy Sanlam Cape Town Marathon , UCT Athletics , Century of the Marathon , Two Oceans Marathon , Athletics History
26 ISSUE 175 | www . modernathlete . co . za