OPINION: Gerda Steyn is swiftly becoming the ultra-distance GOAT
· Citizen
Gerda Steyn defies reality.
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Ultra-distance running is not supposed to be predictable. Quite the opposite.
So much can go wrong for an athlete over a race beyond the standard marathon distance that consistency is a difficult thing to find.
In recent years, some athletes have been superb, winning multiple races across a range of ultra-distances, with the likes of Caroline Wostmann and Bongmusa Mthembu showcasing their tremendous abilities.
Only two other athletes, however, have ever produced the consistency we’ve seen from Steyn on the South Africa ultra-distance circuit.
Between 1981 and 1990, Bruce Fordyce won the Comrades Marathon nine times, and more recently Russian athlete Elena Nurgalieva made SA her temporary home while cleaning up, winning Comrades eight times and Two Oceans four times between 2003 and 2013.
Nobody else over the last century has delivered such remarkable results, and in an era that is becoming increasingly competitive, even the likes of Wostmann and Mthembu couldn’t match the results produced by Fordyce and Nurgalieva.
Breaking new ground
Steyn, however, is just built differently. She’s so good, some tests might be required just to prove she’s not a cyborg because she never seems to have a bad run.
Since 2018, Steyn has won Two Oceans seven times in succession, and she has picked up four victories at Comrades.
In the process, she has broken the Two Oceans record on multiple occasions, taking nearly four minutes off the mark set in 1989 by Frith van der Merwe (which was so fast it felt like it would stand forever). And she’s also completely shattered the ‘up’ and ‘down’ Comrades records.
A former quantity surveyor, Steyn is clearly very analytical in her approach, and she has perfected the art of preparing for gruelling races over challenging courses covering ridiculous distances.
Fordyce and Nurgalieva are the most prolific ultra-distance champions who have ever graced South African roads, but after winning Two Oceans again at the weekend, Steyn has now firmly cemented her place alongside them.
And if she can keep going for another few years, she might ultimately stand out as the best of them all.