THE RECORDS
The Times to Beat
The fastest times ever run for 50km have strong connections with South Africa , because until 2019 , both the men ’ s and women ’ s IAU World Records were held by South African runners , having been set on South Afrian soil in the late 1980s . The women ’ s record has twice been bettered since 2019 , In Europe and the USA , but the Nedbank Runified : Breaking Barriers 50km may see both records bettered , and returned to SA soil .
The Men ’ s Record : Amazing Magawana
The men ’ s World Best for 50km has stood at 2 hours 43 minutes 38 seconds for a very long time , since 1988 . That ’ s 33 years ! Which just goes to show how good Thompson Magawana ’ s run in the 1988 Two Oceans Marathon really was .
In 1987 , debutant Magawana won the 56km Two Oceans Ultra-marathon with a flying 3:05:31 finish , taking down Johnny Halberstadt ’ s course record 3:05:37 , set in 1981 . After recovering from a coughing bout brought on by the sheer effort of pushing hard in the final kilometres , he admitted that he didn ’ t really like running downhills , but added , “ I sing to myself on the uphills , because I enjoy it so much .” He also said he would be back the following year , and expected to go even faster .
Naturally , all eyes were on the defending champion at the start of the 1988 Two Oceans . Not only had he said he could go faster , but this year there was an extra incentive to chase the course record – a brand new Volkswagen Jetta car ! In his build-up to the Cape ultra , Magawana had won the Ford Marathon in Port Elizabeth and the JSE Marathon title in Johannesburg , followed by the Peninsula Marathon in Cape Town , and he looked supremely fit and ready .
Some had predicted that the record incentive could entice the runners to go out too hard in the early stages of the race , and those predictions looked to be coming true as Magawana clocked an astonishing 30:29 for the first 10km , having already opened a lead of two and a half minutes over the chasing pack . At 20km the lead was five and a half minutes , and he reached the halfway mark in 1:27:29 . Even though the pundits knew the second half of the race featured the two big climbs on Chapmans Peak and Constantia Nek , they were hardpressed not to start wondering if a sub-three-hour finish was possible .
Coming into Hout Bay , Magawana reached the marathon mark in a blistering 2:15:10 – fast enough to win many a standard marathon – with a lead of just under 10 minutes , and he was still pulling away from the rest of the field . He then eased his way up Constantia Nek , and flew down the other side to the finish at Brookside , breasting the tape in 3:03:44 , taking 1:47 off his own course record after averaging 3:16.85 per kilometre , and winning by a margin of 9 minutes and 10 seconds .
Along the way , he had also been timed at officially measured timing points for 30 miles and 50km , and he had smashed two IAU World Records . His 2:37:31 at 30 miles beat the previous best mark by 8 minutes 35 seconds , and his 50km time of 2:43:38 was an improvement of 3 minutes 26 seconds over the previous best .
Almost lost in the hype of Magawana ’ s incredible run , was a win in the women ’ s race for Monica Drögemöller . She too set a World Record for 30 miles on her way to a 3:44:29
Treading Lightly for 50km
8
The men ’ s fastest time to run 50km on a treadmill is 2:57:25 , achieved by Germany ’ s Florian Neuschwander in Thalgau , Austria , on 27 February 2020 . For women , the fastest time to run 50km on a treadmill is 3:51:25 , achieved by Canadian Arielle Fitzgerald at the Calgary Marathon Expo on 28 May 2016 . Furthermore , after taking a three-minute bathroom break , she continued running and subsequently broke the Guinness World Records title for the women ’ s fastest time to run 100km on a treadmill !
NEDBANK RUNIFIED 50KM | 23 May 2021 win , taking five minutes and 38 seconds off the previous course record set by Helen Lucre in 1984 . There were big smiles as both winners were rewarded with the keys to brand new Volkswagen Jettas for their winning efforts .
To this day many athletics statisticians and pundits consider Magawana ’ s 1988 Two Oceans run as one of the top 10 all-time ultramarathon performances in the world , especially since the 50km mark was right at the top of the arduous 4km Constantia Nek climb . One can only imagine what time he could have run for 50km that day if the runup to the 50km mark was flatter !
Images : Henner Thies / Red Bull Content Pool & courtesy Two Oceans Marathon