ELITES
The Women ’ s Ultra : Plain Sailing or Choppy Waters for Steyn
South Africans would like nothing more than to see the darling of local road running , Gerda Steyn , make it a double-double , but the coast may not be quite as clear .
She won the hearts of South Africans many times over with her three consecutive wins at the Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon , including last year ’ s record-breaking run to finally break the 33-year-old women ’ s course record held by Frith van der Merwe since 1989 . She also broke the SA Marathon Record as well as the Comrades Up Run course record , and she did it all with a smile . That is why South Africans love Gerda Steyn , and while she always has time for the followers of the sport and her supporters , come race day , she will be all business .
UNPRECEDENTED FOUR-PEAT
On Saturday 15 April , Steyn will be looking to make history again by winning the Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon title for an unprecedented fourth time in succession . Monica Drögemöller ( 1988,1990 / 1 / 2 ) and Elena Nurgalieva ( 2004 / 5 , 2009 and 2012 ) both won the race four times , but not in succession , and not as the race record-holder . Therefore , if Steyn wins this year , she will have made history for the second year in succession , but she has not had the same build-up to this year ’ s race as in the past .
Up until her win in 2022 , Steyn was on a roll . She won the 2018 Two Oceans and finished runner-up in that year ’ s Comrades , then in 2019 claimed a second Two Oceans title , getting within a minute of the course record , and smashed the Comrades ‘ Up Run ’ course record . In 2021 , she set a new SA Marathon Record , and after representing South Africa at the Olympics in Toko that same year , she went on to finish fourth at the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon , winning the SA Marathon title in the process .
Then came her third Two Oceans win in 2022 , in a record time , but a somewhat disappointing 2:30:22 in the New York Marathon last November was not the ideal way to end the year . However , it would be foolhardy to forget that that since 2015 , Steyn has been on an unbroken upward trajectory . It is impossible for any athlete to simply keep improving – at some stage , they will plateau , or hit a bad patch of form , and other than her incredible 2022 Totalsports Two Oceans result , last year was that period for Steyn .
Some changes made in her training towards the end of last year have seen Steyn get that “ good feeling ” back , and she eased into 2023 with a comfortable win in the Dubai 10km in February . Since then , she has expressed her happiness with her fitness after cruising to the win on the brutal Jackie Gibson Marathon course in Johannesburg . And she had the country in stitches when she announced on social media that she was running from Joburg to Cape Town to race in the Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon . Hours later , she revealed it was all an April ’ s Fool joke , but it ’ s also a clear sign that she is happy , confident and ready .
ETHIOPIAN DEFIANCE
While the whole of South Africa would like nothing better than for Steyn to make it four wins in a row , a victory for her is not a foregone conclusion . Some have mentioned her lack of racing in recent months and asked whether she is race-fit , and she will need to be , as she comes up against a tough challenge from Ethiopians Amelework Fikadu Bosho and Tinebebe Nebiyu Ali .
Bosho is no stranger to the Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon , having finished third in last year ’ s race , on debut . Since her move up ultra distances in 2022 , she has raced three times beyond the standard marathon distance , winning the Nedbank Runified 50km in 2022 , coming third at Two Oceans last year , and then second in this year ’ s Runified event on 26 February . She knows how to race , is used to being on the podium , and is now familiar with the route of the Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon , so she will have a much better idea of how to pace herself … and she is renowned for being a strong finisher .
Although 22-year-old Two Oceans debutant , Ali , may not have raced much , she has delivered on each occasion . When she finished fourth at the Great Ethiopian 10km run in Addis Ababa in 2018 , clocking 34:03 at 2000m-plus altitude aged just 18 , she made the pundits sit up . More recently , Ali finished third at the 2022 Soweto Marathon and fourth in this year ’ s Nedbank Runified 50km , so she looks a sure contender .
MORE SA CHALLENGERS
Spearheading the rest of the South African challenge to Gerda Steyn , in the absence due to injury of last year ’ s runner-up , Irvette van Zyl , will be Adele Broodryk . She , too , has grabbed the imagination of the South African public after her third placing , seemingly out of nowhere , in the 2022 Comrades Marathon . In 2022 , Broodryk won the Om Die Dam 50km , narrowly missing out on the course record , and then finished sixth in her first Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon .
She has followed a similar build-up to this year ’ s race , but there are some concerns that she may be over-racing after her seventh place at this year ’ s Nedbank Runified , followed by a successful title defence at Om Die Dam , albeit in a substantially slower time than in 2022 – eight minutes slower , to be exact . But few can deny that Broodryk is a gutsy runner who is not afraid to take the race to the field .
Meanwhile , quietly getting on with her business has been Ann Ashworth . But the field will have taken notice of her performances to date . A 2:39:47 marathon in Seville in February made the sport sit up and take notice . That was her second-best marathon performance ever , and she then surprised herself by finishing third at this year ’ s Om Die Dam , and cruised to a second at the recent Irene Running Festival 48k . Note well , everyone … Ashworth will be in the mix come race day .
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