Gerda Steyn breaks Frith’s 33-year-old Two Oceans record

Gerda Steyn has broken Frith van der Merwe’s 33-year-old Two Oceans ultra-marathon record, winning the 56km showpiece in Cape Town in 3 hr 29 min 42 sec. 

Steyn took the lead late in the race on Sunday morning, overtaking her Olympic teammate Irvette van Zyl to score an emphatic victory, smiling as she approached the finish line to cross in 35th overall and win this race for the third time. 

Van Zyl ended second in 3:30:31, also inside the old mark from 1989. 

Van der Merwe’s 3:30:36 effort, which had knocked almost 14 minutes off the previous mark back then, saw her finish 22nd overall. 

Edndale Belachew of Ethiopia outsprinted Nkosikhona Mhlakwana to win the 2022 edition of the men’s race by three seconds, crossing in 3:09:05.