After some years of South African road running being somewhat stuck in the doldrums in terms of global competition , there is a new generation of local female athletes that look set to make their mark on the world stage .

Just a few months after that sub-6-hour Comrades Up Run , Gerda became the fastest South African in a women ’ s only marathon when she ran 2:27:48 in the 2019 New York Marathon . At the time , the SA Record for the marathon stood at 2:26:36 , and she only narrowly missed that mark by the narrowest of margins when she clocked 2:26:51 at the COVID-affected , eliteonly 2020 London Marathon , but a year later she ran 2:25:28 in Italy to break the record and qualify for the Olympic Games . And since then , she has also broken the Two Oceans Marathon women ’ s record twice , as well as the Comrades Down Run best time .

Fulfilling Her Promise

Irvette van Zyl has been knocking on the door of greatness for years , and in May 2021 she set a women ’ s only World Record for 50km , running 3:04:23 in the Nedbank Runified event in Gqeberha , just weeks after posting a 2:28:40 marathon in Italy , her first sub- 2:30 . Then came the 2022 Two Oceans Marathon , and few will forget the titanic battle between Irvette and Gerda , with Irvette taking the race by the scruff of the neck and setting a blistering pace up Constantia Neck , leaving the rest of the field in her wake . Gerda was on the ropes , but dug deep to claw her way back and pass Irvette in the final three kays , but it was that surge by Irvette that set up Gerda ’ s new women ’ s record for the Two Oceans Marathon .

In the end , Gerda won that day , but both athletes had dipped under the long-standing Two Oceans record of 3:30:31 of Frith van der Merwe , run way back in 1989 . And Irvette wasn ’ t done yet . In December 2022 at the Valencia Marathon in Spain , she secured both her 2023 World Championships and 2024 Olympic Marathon qualifiers by running 2:26:11 , the third-fastest time ever run by a South African in the marathon . Only Elana Meyer ( 2:25:15 on the aided Boston course ) and Gerda with her 2:25:28 have gone faster .

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ISSUE 162 | www . modernathlete . co . za

Promising Recent Results

On 1 October , Cacisile Sosibo stormed to a 15-second PB in the half marathon at the World Road Running Championships by running 1:09:31 . Behind her , Glenrose Xaba ran 1:09:47 to post a sixth sub-70 time , and Cian Oldknow took 40 seconds off her PB to run 1:10:08 , and together , these three secured fourth place for SA in the team competition , only missing out on the bronze medal by 11 seconds when their times were combined . This is the closest an SA women ’ s half marathon team has ever been to winning a medal on the global road running stage , and all three have shown that they are not afraid to push the boundaries , and themselves .

Exactly one week later , on 8 October , Dominique Scott-Efurd competed in the Chicago Marathon , in her second attempt at the distance . She had run the London Marathon in April and clocked 2:29:19 , saying afterwards things did not quite go according to plan ,

Glenrose Xaba

but she has the pedigree to run something special and many have predicted that she will eventually rewrite the SA Marathon record books . It didn ’ t happen in Chicago for Dom , as she clocked 2:27:31 to give her the fifth-fastest time by a South African , but it takes time to learn the marathon , and many still think that the SA Record will become hers .

I think it may be sooner rather than later that Cacisile and Glenrose turn their attention to the marathon , and perhaps a bit later Cian may join them , and all of a sudden , SA could have six women who are competitive on the global marathon stage . This has never happened before in SA – at our best , in the late 90 ’ s and early 2000s , we only had Elana Meyer and Colleen De Reuck in the mix on the global stage - but in these six women , South Africa has a new generation of runners who look set to achieve new heights in marathoning . There are exciting times ahead as the rise of the Superwomen continues .

Cacisile Sosibo

Cian Oldknow

About the Author

Manfred Seidler is a freelance sport journalist who has been in the industry since 1994 , in both print media and broadcasting , covering four Olympic Games for SABC Radio , and producing various athletics shows for the SABC . Follow him on Twitter : @ sportmansa ; Facebook : Sport Man SA ; Instagram : sportman _ sa .

Images : Felix Dlanga , Action Photo , Maja Hitij , Rogan Ward