Ultramarathon specialist Gerda Steyn created history with her fourth Comrades victory over the weekend, before revealing that she is already plotting her next long-distance challenge.
Only the second woman to have now won the race more than three times (and the first South African), the 35-year-old local favourite admitted she was still struggling to find the right words to describe what was a highly impressive win.
Soweto next for Steyn
But while preparing for a month of rest and recovery, the thrilled ultrarunner couldn’t help but cast one eye to the future and put her name down for a race she has yet to add to her personal collection of achievements – the Soweto Marathon.
The iconic Comrades takes place between the cities of Pietermaritzburg and Durban with the race run in alternating directions each year, with this year’s Down Run measuring in at 89.98km and attracting 22,677 qualifying entrants.
Steyn, who clocked a time of 5:51:18, measured her race to perfection and once in the lead pushed on to secure a four-minute gap from second-placed Alexandra Morozova who came in at 5:55:55. Shelmisth Muriuki was third in 06:07:55.
Speaking on her post-race VLOG via YouTube, she said: “It was magical. I say it every year, but I do think that year on year, it just becomes more and more spectacular and something that is so special and so truly South African and something that we, as a country can be very proud of.
Gerda pushed to the limit
“It did take a lot out of me. It did push me to my limits. I can’t explain it in words. It’s now a few days after the race and still, I’m still searching for the right words to really try and explain that moment. It has been an awesome journey. It has been the most amazing few months.
“I will take June off now as a very easy running month and hopefully get on some trails and do some fun running and then after that, I will start to build back up again piece by piece, little by little, until I feel like doing a marathon at the end of the year.
“I have put my feelers out already. I have a short list of running races that I would like to do, but first on my list, I’ve got my eye on the Soweto Marathon. I’ve never run it before and when I chat to runners I always get told that I have to run the Soweto Marathon. So I feel a little bit like that is missing from the races that I’ve done.”
Going for number five
And there is little doubt that she will be back again at Comrades next year for the Up Race as she looks to make it a fifth win and close the gap on eight-time winner Elena Nurgalieva.
“It was just really, really enjoyable as well. Knowing that I’ve done it a few years now, I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel here. I’m training to find ways to just improve on what I’ve done in the past. I’m trying to build on that rather than trying to invent things or trying something completely new that I have no idea whether it will work or not,” she said. “Every single year, people ask me, is it becoming stale? Where do you still find the real spark and the excitement?
“No, no, no. Every year, it just feels like it’s becoming bigger and more meaningful, and the excitement just builds. It certainly doesn’t fade. Crossing the finish line. It was just magical. There was fire. There were streamers going off. There were people cheering crazy, crazy.
“I really appreciate the fact that it feels to me that people really want to see me succeed and want to see me do well, and I wish I knew of a better way to show them my gratitude and my appreciation. All I can do is say thank you and hope that it reaches the right people and reaches everyone who has supported me.”
And as for her immediate recovery time, don’t expect to see her on Strava anytime soon.
“I don’t know if I’ll be able to run at all this week, probably not. When I feel the body is ready to go for a run, I will attempt it, perhaps closer to the weekend, so seven to ten days out from rest day is probably when I will start with light jogging again and then from there on for the rest of June, you won’t see my Strava light up.”
