Breakfast , or a World Record … That was the tough choice that Irvette van Zyl ( 33 ) was debating in her head as she neared the end of her third 10km lap at the recent Nedbank Runified Breaking Barriers 50km race in Gqerbeha . She could pull off after 30km , as planned , and go grab a bite to eat before the hotel ’ s breakfast service closed , or keep running and see if she could win the race and break the IAU World Record for 50km . On the one hand , she was rather looking forward to a hearty breakfast ; on the other hand , she was feeling great , with plenty of running still in her legs , but two things worried her . The first was whether pushing on to 50km would affect her upcoming run in the Olympic Marathon , but secondly – and more importantly – what her husband , retired 400m hurdler LJ van Zyl , would say if she carried on running ! |
Irvette started the Nedbank Runified 50km as a pacesetter , but eventually won it |
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Images : Tobias Ginsberg & courtesy Gerda Steyn |
Irvette and fellow Olympic Marathon qualifier , Gerda Steyn , had been asked by their coach and Nedbank Running Club national manager Nick Bester , to set the pace for the first 30km of the 50km race . The goal was to help the other runners chase down Brit Alyson Dixon ’ s IAU World Record of 3:07:20 , set in 2019 at the IAU World 50km Champs in Poland . On paper , Gerda and Irvette looked the most likely to challenge the World Record , as they were the two fastest women in the field over the marathon distance , and both had ultra-running experience , but Nick told them to just do 30km and save their legs for the Olympic Marathon on 7 August , especially since both had raced a marathon just six weeks earlier in Italy .
Marathon Bests
At that Xiamen Marathon & Tuscany Camp Global Elite Race in Siena on 11 April , Gerda had clocked 2:25:28 to break the long-standing SA Record ( 2:26:35 run by Colleen De Reuck in 1996 ), while Irv had clocked 2:28:40 to take some three minutes off her previous best of 2:31:26 , and book her ticket to Tokyo by breaking 2:29:00 . Nevertheless , Nick did add that they could finish the 50km race if they wanted to … and Irvette admits to being in two minds before the race .
“ At that stage , I was not certain if I was going to be picked for the Olympics , because I had only run the qualifying time once , whereas Gerda had done it twice , but even LJ said , Tokyo is the priority , so just run 30 kilometres and come home – and then he joked that if I went further , I must not come home !
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So , the plan was to run 30 kilometres , then go have breakfast ,” says Irvette .
Also playing on her mind was that just three weeks after her marathon PB in Italy , she had a terrible run at the Nelson Mandela Bay Half Marathon on 1 May , also in Gqeberha . That race had played host to the SA 21km Champs , and even though Irvette ran a fast 1:12:54 to finish 10th overall and third South African , she says she just never felt good in that race . “ I felt terrible in the first kay , so I told myself to relax , that it would get better , but instead it just got worse . That made it torture to finish the 21 kilometres .”
Feeling So Much Better
With that less than pleasant experience still fresh in her memory , Irvette headed back to the Friendly City to do her pacing duties , and to her great relief , this time she felt good right from the start . In fact , she says it just felt like one of those perfect days .
“ When I started running , I just felt like I did not want to stop . The target pace Gerda and I were asked to run felt easy , and when we finished the first 10km lap , we said it felt like we were just out doing a long training run . In fact , when we reached 15km , I thought to myself , this is going by so fast .”
“ At 28km I still felt great , so I asked Gerda if she was going to pull off at 30 , and she said yes . I told her that I wanted to go a bit further , to 35km , but I still said see you just now for breakfast . I was thinking , if I go to 35 , I will still make breakfast !” says Irvette .
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“ But then I got to 34km , and felt I just didn ’ t want to stop . I kept thinking that LJ and many others had said I must stop at 30km , because I had the Olympics coming up , and I was worried what they would say , but I just felt so great and wanted to keep going . This was definitely one of those races where I didn ’ t need to bribe myself to keep going for another kay , like that 21km a few weeks earlier !”
Still debating what to do , Irvette approached the start / finish area on the back side of the loop and spotted Nick . “ I asked him stop or go , telling him I was feeling great , and he said OK , go for it . Then I thought to myself , now I have to win it , otherwise LJ won ’ t let me come home !”
Of course , since she had intended to stop after 30km , Irvette admits she had no clear race strategy for the last two laps , so had to make some quick decisions . “ I thought perhaps I should try hold back , let second place catch me , and then hope I have enough in the tank to respond and take the win , but instead I decided to push a bit faster , to build a buffer over the next runner , in case I hit the wall . I kept thinking I was going to get caught , but nobody came past me , and it was only with 100 metres to go , when I looked behind me for the first time , that I realised I could win this .”
Irvette crossed the line in 3:04:23 , taking just under three minutes off the currently ratified IAU World Record of 3:07:20 , run by Britain ’ s Alyson Dixon in the 2019 IAU World 50km Championships in Brasov , Romania . ( The South African connection to that record is that Alyson finally broke Frith van der Merwe ’ s long-standing record of 3:08:39 , set during the 1989 Two Oceans Marathon .) However , while the
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