There is, in fact, only one ocean around Cape Town — and there’s only one Gerda Steyn.
The ultra-marathon queen underlined her status as the country’s greatest distance runner as she shattered her own Two Oceans record while winning an unprecedented fifth straight title in Cape Town yesterday morning.
The 34-year-old from Bothaville in the Free State cruised to victory at the iconic 56km race in 3hr 26min 54sec, slicing more than two minutes off the 3:29:05 mark she set last year. It was her fifth successive straight win, and her third record in a row — a heck of a feat, considering that before then the women’s record by Frith van der Merwe, 3:30:36, had stood for 33 years.
Relaxed as ever throughout the marathon, the Phantane AC runner surpassed the two women who had won the Two Oceans four times in a row — South Africa’s Monica Drogemoeller (1988, 1990, 1991 and 1992) and Russian twin Elena Nurggalieva (2004, 2005, 2009 and 2012).
Steyn has mowed that down like a machine gun.
Capetonians like to claim they have the Atlantic and Indian oceans surrounding their peninsula, but don’t be fooled — it’s all Atlantic. But what they do have is South Africa’s finest female distance athlete sailing over their roads.
Going into the race, Steyn said she expected a hard-fought battle. In windy conditions, it was clear from the start of the race — as she sped into the lead — that she meant business.
At 14km, Steyn, Irvette van Zyl and Zimbabwean Loveness Madziva formed a tight bunch of three, all running an average of 3min 35sec/km.
At 28km, it became a two-horse race between the defending champion and Van Zyl as they climbed little Chappies neck-on-neck. There was little separating the two titans, a classic rematch of two years ago, as they descended Chapman’s Peak.
At the marathon mark (42.2km), Steyn showed her supremacy and pulled ahead of Van Zyl.
Nicknamed the “Smiling Assassin”, she looked unbeatable climbing Constantia Nek, and the writing was on the wall for Van Zyl at the 50km mark. As Steyn passed the finish line, she received a kiss on the cheek from her husband Duncan, and cheers from the crowds at the UCT upper campus sports field.
Van Zyl finished second in 03:29:30 and Madziva clocked 3:38:00 to claim third spot.
Steyn’s next big challenge is likely the Paris Olympic Games in August, where she and Cian Oldknow and a third runner, possibly Van Zyl, will represent the country.
In the men’s race, Klerksdorp's Onalenna Khonkhobe became the first South African since 2019 to win the race. “I’m announcing my arrival; tomorrow you will acknowledge me,” he said before the marathon.
He did exactly that as he triumphed in a time of 3:09:30. It was his second Two Oceans after making his debut last year, when he ended in sixth place.
Khonkhobe’s Nedbank AC teammate, Lloyd Bosman, finished second in 3:09:58, while defending champion Givemore Mudzinganyama took third in 3:11:13.
— Additional reporting by Sport Staff
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