Gerda often makes running ultras look easy, given that she is usually smiling!

From unknown novice in her first Two Oceans to a celebrated six-time winner

In seven starts at the Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon, Gerda Steyn has won the women’ s race six times, in consecutive years as well( not counting the two missed years due to COVID).

race, Duncan( Gerda’ s husband – Ed.) and I had talked about this, and he said that if I get to the top of Constantia Nek in first position, then I must just give it my all and not look back, because it’ s a lot of downhill after that, and with my downhill running, I should be able to keep the lead. So that’ s what went through my mind as I got to the top of the climb, and I just went as fast as I possibly could after that, and won the race for the first time. That was a huge moment for me, and the one that I will always remember.

Q: Then in 2019, you not only won the race again, but also finished just a minute and a half outside Frith van der Merwe’ s longstanding race record, so, of course, that became the focus, more so perhaps than your second win?

GS: Yes, I think so. In 2019, I came in as the defending champion, and while I didn’ t work out my race plan to try and break the record, I thought it should be possible. Then two days before the race, they had to change the route and we had to go over Ou Kaapse Weg, so all my energy just went into getting accustomed to the new race profile and how to approach this different route. That meant the record was not really on my mind, as my focus was first and foremost on defending my title, but when I broke away from the lead group close to the marathon mark, I saw I was slightly ahead of my race plan, so I knew I was close to the record time, and I admit that I was doing some quick calculations in my mind as I ran. When I finished so agonisingly close to the record, I decided that I was coming back the next year, and that I was 100 % going to target that record!

Q: But then COVID hit, the 2020 race was cancelled at the last minute, and the 2021 race as well …

GS: Yes, that was very disappointing! After that 2019 win and coming so close to the record, I went on to win the Comrades Marathon for the first time just seven weeks later, so I think I was able to process the slight disappointment of Two Oceans by telling myself I had had to hold back a bit to conserve some energy for Comrades. But the next year that record was

my target. With COVID and the race not taking place, I just had to put that dream on hold for two years, but in those two years, I focused on the marathon distance and broke the SA Record, I competed at the Olympics, and I focused on getting faster over the shorter distances. So, by the time Two Oceans was back on the calendar, I was also ready to go for it again, and to get that record.

Q: In that 2022 race, you crossed the line in 3:29:45 and beat the record that had stood for so many years, and in spite of the limited number of people allowed to be at the finish because of still strict COVID-related regulations, there was still a fantastic vibe. How did it feel for you coming into that finish, knowing you had the record?

GS: It’ s funny, if I think back about it now, I don’ t really remember that there weren’ t any crowds at the finish line and that the field was quite empty, because the race organisers and all the volunteers who were there, including the medical personnel and the catering staff, all came out and cheered for me, and they made that moment so special and so memorable. It was still a massive moment for me. It was unfortunate that we couldn’ t have all the usual crowds that year, and it must have been a letdown for the spectators and people who wanted to go out and support the race, but I was just grateful that the race was going ahead and, of course, to finally get that record time that I’ d been dreaming about for three years!

Q: You’ ve gone on to win the Two Oceans Marathon six times in a row, obviously not counting the COVID years, with three course records along the way, and you are now the most successful runner, male or female, in the history of the race. How does that make you feel, looking back at where you started?

GS: When I think back to the beginning of my running career, I was of the opinion that winning the Two Oceans is perhaps harder than winning the Comrades, because it is such a precise race. It’ s almost like a standard marathon, with almost the same effort of a marathon, but it is 14

Images: Action Photo SA, Two Oceans Marathon

18 Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon 2026