Here’s how much it will cost to run the 53rd edition of the Two Oceans Ultra Marathon and 25th Two Oceans Half Marathon in 2024. Photo: Ryan Wilkisky/BackpagePix
South African superstar Gerda Steyn joins new running club
Three-time Two Oceans Ultra Marathon winner, Gerda Steyn, has joined the KwaZulu-Natal-based Phantane Athletics Club.
Here’s how much it will cost to run the 53rd edition of the Two Oceans Ultra Marathon and 25th Two Oceans Half Marathon in 2024. Photo: Ryan Wilkisky/BackpagePix
Three-time Two Oceans Ultra Marathon winner, Gerda Steyn, has joined the KwaZulu-Natal-based Phantane Athletics Club.
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Steyn will be running in the club colours of Phantane for all of her races on South African soil in the coming months, including the 2023 Two Oceans Ultra Marathon on Saturday, 15 April.
In 2022, Steyn broke Frith van der Merwe’s longstanding Two Oceans course record (3:30:36, set in 1989) when she clocked 3:29:42 for the 56km ultra as she won her third consecutive title in the event.
She also won in 2018, clocking 3:39:31, and scored a repeat win in 2019 with a 3:31:28 finish, less than a minute outside the then course record.
The race did not take place in 2020 or 2021 due to the COVID pandemic.
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Steyn therefore currently has three wins, placing her joint second on the all-time list of Two Oceans winners alongside fellow three-time women’s winners Bev Malan (1982, 1983, 1985), Angelina Sephooa (1997, 1998, 1999) and Olesya Nurgalieva (2008, 2010, 2011), as well as men’s winners Siphiwe Gqele (1983, 1984, 1985) and Marko Mambo (2004, 2005, 2008).
Gerda Steyn: ‘Such an honour’
Only two athletes have won the race four times, and both are women: Monica Drögemöller (1988, 1990, 1991, 1992) and Elena Nurgalieva (2004, 2005, 2009, 2012).
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If Steyn wins again in 2023, she will join them on four wins, but will also become the first athlete to post four consecutive wins in the event, and she will become the first athlete to win a fourth title while also being the course record-holder.
When asked about her decision to join the Phantane club, Steyn said, “It is such an honour to represent Phantane Athletics Club. The club prides itself on the development of athletes and to be part of the club feels incredible.”
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On behalf of the club, the Club Manager, Mdu Khumalo, said that Gerda joining the club is a huge milestone for Phantane: “It is a privilege to have an elite runner like Gerda running in our colours.”
Steyn also won the 2019 Comrades Marathon and is the South African women’s marathon record holder.
