“That’s excellent,” said Van der Merwe, who clocked 5:54:32 on the Down run in 1989. “Well done to Gerda. It was a privilege holding the record and I’m really pleased she was the one to take it. She’s really nice.
“And I like being out of the limelight,” she said, joking she was getting too old to appear in TV interviews.
TimesLIVE
'Records are meant to be broken': Frith congratulates Gerda on Down mark
Image: NQUBEKO MBHELE
Frith van der Merwe breathed a sigh of relief at hearing the news that Gerda Steyn had broken her 34-year-old Comrades Marathon mark on Sunday morning.
Image: gsport4girls
The Benoni-based English teacher was unable to watch the end of the race after load-shedding kicked in at 10am, but she was impressed with Steyn’s 5 hrs 44 min 54 sec blitz from Pietermaritzburg to Durban.
“That’s excellent,” said Van der Merwe, who clocked 5:54:32 on the Down run in 1989. “Well done to Gerda. It was a privilege holding the record and I’m really pleased she was the one to take it. She’s really nice.
“And I like being out of the limelight,” she said, joking she was getting too old to appear in TV interviews.
TimesLIVE
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