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Earlier in this digimag, we talked about Gerda Steyn going for an unprecedented seventh win in the Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon. Now let’ s take a look at some of the other leading contenders in the men’ s and women’ s Ultra.
His preparations for the 2026 race closely resemble those that yielded his impressive runner-up performance last year, including running the FNB Kazungula Marathon in Botswana again, where he produced a 2:19:17 to finish second behind Isaac Mpofu of Zimbabwe. Last year, he won this race in 2:24:53.“ I didn’ t see a reason to change what worked for me last year. The conditions were hot, but I did well to adapt. My aim was to go there and clock 2:20, which I managed to achieve,” he says.
Sboniso Sikhakhane
Sikhakhane Declares He’ s Ready to Win
After finishing as runner-up last year, Sboniso Sikhakhane is confident that this year will see him claim his first victory in the Totalsports Two Oceans Ultra Marathon. The Entsika Athletics Club runner clocked 3:11:18 in 2025 to cross the finish line just 31 seconds after Lesotho’ s Joseph Khoarahlane Seutloali, and that’ s a memory that still lingers in Sikhakhane’ s mind, leaving him determined to go one better in 2026.
“ I still think I should have won last year. I had a good strategy on how to attack the race from the start to the end, and it all worked out well till the later stages of the race. I made a huge mistake when I went to fetch a water bottle where I wasn’ t supposed to. I gave Khoarahlane an opportunity to open a gap, which made it hard for me to recover. But I have moved past it, as everything is planned by God,” says Sikhakhane.
Sikhakhane, who also took third position in the 2022 edition of the Two Oceans Ultra in 3:11:30, now says he is ready to win the race.“ I think I’ m in the best shape of my life. My body has been responding well to training, plus my mind is also strong, so my target is to clock a better time than I have done in the past. I believe it is time for me to win a big race in this country. In the past, I have made mistakes, but I have learnt from them, and winning would be a dream come true, as I have been knocking on the door for too long,” he concludes.
Van Zyl Wants Return to Winners’ Circle
Three-time runner-up Irvette van Zyl will return to the start line of the Totalsports Two Oceans Ultra Marathon determined to turn last year’ s heartbreak into triumph. Van Zyl travelled to Cape Town last year with her husband and two children, only to contract a virus on the eve of the race. Though she bravely took her place at the start, Van Zyl was ultimately forced to withdraw before the marathon mark, and this disappointment has sharpened her focus for this year’ s race.
“ Last year my Two Oceans didn’ t end up the way I wanted it to. This year, I’ ll be leaving the kids at home – just to make sure there are no lastminute bugs to derail my race plans,” jokes Van Zyl.“ I had a talk with them and they understand. So, this time I’ m going into the race a bit more confident that I’ ll be healthy and ready to race a bit better than last year.”
Irvette van Zyl
Her meticulous planning has been underpinned by a tough training regime to ensure she is in her best shape this year, and the results have shown. On 22 February, the 38-year-old Hollywood Athletics Club athlete clocked 2:49:05 to win the very hilly Balwin Run Series Pretoria Marathon, which formed part of her 50km long run. A week later, she claimed an encouraging ninth position at the windy Absa RUN YOUR CITY GQEBERHA 10K, crossing the line in 33:57.“ This showed that my preparation for Two Oceans was going well, and at least this time, I think I had my mishaps a little earlier in the year,” she says, hinting at one or two niggles earlier this season.
Excited about the prospect of returning to the podium at a race where she has enjoyed so much success, Van Zyl also applauds the organisers for increasing the total prize purse, which will see the first man and woman pocket R380,000 – up from R250,000 in previous years.“ It’ s always good when they push up the prize money, because Two Oceans is such a hard route and you want to be rewarded!”
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