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Chasing
ELITE RACE
Chasing SEVENTH
HEAVEN
Gerda takes her sixth consecutive Two Oceans Ultra win in 2025
The Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon powered by BYD has been run 54 times since 1970, and in that time the coveted title of Two Oceans Marathon champion has been claimed by 43 men and 29 women, but only a handful of them managed to win the Ultra more than once. However, one runner has been able to set an unprecedented record of six wins in the women’ s race, and Gerda Steyn could extend that incredible record still further this year! – BY SEAN FALCONER
Gerda makes ultras look easy, given that she is usually smiling!
8 Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon powered by BYD | 2026
When Gerda Steyn took line honours in the 2022 Two Oceans Ultra Marathon, she not only claimed her third win in the iconic 56km race, but also made history by breaking Frith van der Merwe’ s 33-year-old women’ s race record, lowering the mark by nearly a minute from 3:30:36 to 3:29:42. A year later, Steyn once again took line honours and rewrote the history books once again. Firstly, she shattered her own course record by 36 seconds, lowering it to 3:29:06, and it was her fourth win, equalling the record of Monica Drögemöller and Elena Nurgalieva for the most wins. Thirdly, Steyn became the only runner to win the Two Oceans Ultra four times consecutively, a feat that put her out ahead of the other four-time winners.
Still more was to come from Steyn. In 2024, she made it five consecutive wins, and lowered the women’ s race record to a brilliant 3:26:54, and in 2025 she recorded a sixth straight win. This incredible record makes Steyn the most successful runner of all time in the history of the Two Oceans, and when you add her other feats in long-distance road running, it is obvious why many consider her the greatest female long distance road runner ever produced by South Africa.
Now in 2026, she will once again line up in the Two Oceans Ultra as favourite to take the women’ s title, and an almost unbelievable seventh straight win, and she says she is looking forward to returning to one of her favourite races, but adds that it has never been easy to win it.“ I definitely do not ever think I can just show up and win – I still put 100 % effort and focus into being ready for this race each year, not only to make sure that I can compete on the same level that I did in the past, but also try and improve my previous performances,” she says.
Precious Memories
With those six wins behind her name, Steyn has an obvious affection for the race, and says that it has become one of her must-run events on the calendar each year.“ I can’ t say that I ever envisaged the Two Oceans becoming such a constant in my career, but every single year that I was able to run it, I was there, and I’ m so fortunate to have won it six times,” she says.“ It’ s just something that became really massive and so special for me, and it’ s really shaped my career in many ways. For example, the Two Oceans opened the door for me to be invited to the New York Marathon for the first time, which led to me qualifying for the Olympics. So, Two Oceans has become so much more than just a race for me. I can’ t imagine my career without the Two Oceans in it.”
When asked if one of her wins stands out above the rest, she says it’ s hard to choose just one.“ The first time I won the race in 2018 obviously stands out to me, but then I came back and defended my title, and after that I broke the record after so many years. I did reach a point where I thought perhaps I wouldn’ t be able to improve again, but the next year I went still faster,” she answers.
“ Even this past year, when I didn’ t break the record, the race itself still stood out to me, and it was still so special. I completely threw my usual race strategy from the previous years out the window and tried something unexpected, and it worked out. It wasn’ t another record, but it was 100 % another success,” she continues.“ I think every time I’ ve won, I’ ve thought this one is even bigger and better, and more special than last year, and that’ s a big part of why I keep coming back. The Two Oceans never feels like it’ s a chore, or just something that I am used to doing, and each run is memorable for different reasons, so I don’ t want to single out one specific race.”
Images: Action Photo SA, Two Oceans Marathon