South African ultra-marathon sensation, Gerda Steyn has signed up for the 2020 Cape Town Marathon. The marathon – which is to be run virtually in 2020 thanks to the coronavirus pandemic – earlier netted international star Mo Farah, who signed up to run the marathon’s 10km Virtual Peace Run in October.

Arguably the world’s best ultra-marathoner in recent years, Steyn’s extraordinary times in shorter-distance races in the past year have set her apart as an athlete of exceptional ability. Steyn will also run the 10km virtual Cape Town course.

“I’m so excited to be running Cape Town’s 10 km Peace Run in October,” said Steyn this week from her home at Sainte Foy in the French Alps. “It’s great to be taking on something new while being a part of such an important event on the road running calendar in South Africa.

“I’ll certainly be going for a fast time and giving it my best.  I’ve already worked out a 10 km route in a near-by village, Bourg Saint Maurice.  It’s around 800m above sea-level which is quite a bit lower than where we live at 1600m and I’ve arranged to run it with a male athlete friend. My husband Duncan will be in support on a bicycle, so we’re ready to go!

“I’m going to encourage my friends to join in, and I’m sure thousands of people from all over the world will be running the Cape Town Virtual Marathon – or one of the related Peace Runs – in October. The global lockdown has given rise to many new runners and virtual running’s having a huge positive impact on health.  And with that amazing Cape Town Marathon App, everyone will feel like they’re running in Cape Town on the day!”

Steyn had an impressive start to 2020, setting personal bests over 10km and the half marathon and placing her firmly amongst the top ten South African women athletes of all time.

Hard training at a high-altitude camp followed in Lesotho in preparation for the Two Oceans Marathon in Cape Town, before the news of the Oceans’ cancellation saw her re-join her husband in Dubai, just days before the international lockdown, which was to turn the 2020 sporting calendar on its head.

“Training in Dubai is challenging,” Steyn admitted. “It’s not just the heat, but the humidity always hovers around 90%, making it tough going. Normally I’m training very early in the morning, but the lockdown curfew meant I could only get out at 6am, when the sun was already high in the sky.  I ran 21km for the Comrades Virtual race in humid conditions, with the temperature around 40 degrees!”

Steyn and her husband were able to move to the French Alps a few weeks ago, trading hot, flat and dusty running for higher altitude mountain trails and a significant line-up of races in the next weeks, both virtual and real. Tomorrow (Saturday, August 1), Steyn swops her running flats for bike clips as she takes part in the Nelson Mandela RIDE4HOPE COVID-19 Relief Challenge Cycle for 67 minutes before running the Runified 21km Virtual Challenge a week later, also in Bourg Saint Maurice.

The following week and it’s the real thing, as Steyn reverts to her passion of trail running, competing in a local high-altitude event – the Tignes Trail Race.  Most of Steyn’s training in France is down off-road, on mountain trails, and the South African will likely prove a formidable opponent in the 26 km trail race with 1800m of climbing, starting at 2100m before climbing twice to a dizzy and lung-searing 2700m. The race is billed as “an event that will please nature lovers, as almost all trails pass through hiking paths, in a very “high-mountain” atmosphere with stunning views”.

“While it’s a low-profile race, I think that this year will attract a strong field as most other races in the region have been cancelled,” explained Steyn. “The altitude’s a bit scary, but I’m not too worried about the competitive side – it’s really just a fun diversion for me!”

Also on Steyn’s radar is a shot at the World Half Marathon Championships at Gdynia in Poland in October, although South Africa’s participation has not yet been confirmed, due to COVID travel challenges. 

“Fingers crossed it will go ahead,” said Steyn. “It will be my first time representing South Africa, so I’m really looking forward to competing.”

Comparisons have been made between Steyn and the legendary Frith van der Merwe.  Both started out their competitive careers running the Comrades Marathon before making their mark over shorter distances. Their standard marathon best times are within 12 seconds of each other, with Van der Merwe’s 2 hr 27 min 36 sec, established thirty years ago in Port Elizabeth, just shading Steyn’s superb 2019 New York City Marathon time of 2:27:48.

“I take a lot of inspiration from Frith,” admitted Steyn. “She ran Comrades and Two Oceans at the peak of her running career and her records still stand.  I haven’t been able to take any of them away from her.  I have not yet been able to meet her, but she sent me a lovely message while I was standing on the finish line at Comrades after winning last year.”

Not only are Van der Merwe’s long-standing ultra-marathon records at last looking vulnerable, but Steyn has a huge incentive and target in the form of Colleen de Reuck’s South African marathon record of 2:26:35, set 24 years ago in Berlin, and even Elana van Zyl’s all-time marathon best of 2:25:15, run in the 1994 Boston Marathon (the ‘point to point’ nature of that course disqualifies it for record purposes).

 “The marathon record is one of my big aims,” Steyn admitted. “I’d love to give it a go, possibly even this year.  I enjoyed meeting Colleen at the Two Oceans Marathon – she’s such a great person and still running so well in her fifties. Without recognising her, I saw her in training and pointed out her perfect running style to Duncan. ‘That’s Colleen de Reuck!’ Duncan said.”But for now, Steyn’s focus is firmly on Cape Town and running the fastest 10km time on the day, in the hope that runners from Africa and around the world will join the party in big numbers. Sanlam Cape Town Virtual Marathon entries are now open and available via www.capetownmarathon.com.