Dijana and Steyn clock up Comrades Marathon records

Records fell yesterday at the Comrades Marathon at the Kingsmead Cricket Stadium in Durban as Tete Morena Dijana and Gerda Steyn won the respective men's and women's races. 

The iconic ultra marathon returned to its traditional June schedule after last year’s event in August. More than18,000 road running enthusiasts flocked to the City Hall in Pietermaritzburg for the start of the race, all filled with adrenaline. At the sound of the gun at 5.30am, there were elite and social runners who were taking part in the Ultimate Human Race for various reasons. 

For the elite athletes, records were waiting to be broken. In the men’s race, SA’s Ayanda Ngcobo set the pace, being at the front until the halfway point of the 87.701km route in Drummond. He would relinquish the lead to Japan’s Jo Fukuda who was first right through to Pinetown before being chased down by Dijana. The Nedbank Running Club ace, with his glasses on and a big smile, dominated the race as he finished in 5:14:01, bettering David Gatebe’s record of 5:18:19 set in 2016. 

“It was hard, the race was too fast, Edward (Mothibi, his running partner) came to me and told me these guys are running fast. The first half was very fast, so I decided to stay behind the guys and then later on I pushed,” Tete told SuperSport after winning his second Comrades.

Second-placed Dutch international Pieter Wiersma and Mothibi, who finished third, acknowledged that Dijana was the best on the road. 

“I could have pushed more and I could have maybe won but Tete was the strongest today physically and mentally,” said Wiersma, who crossed the line in 5:14:08. Mothibi, who rounded off the podium in 5:17:34,  said of Dijana: “I’m happy Tete broke the record, and he won. Tete is young, he’s skilled and fit.”

In the women’s race, Steyn completely dominated the field throughout the race, she was in peak condition as she raced to her second win and beat Frith van der Merwe’s 5:54:43 34-year-old record in  5:44:54. 

“I’m in awe, I can’t believe this amazing day I have had. It has been the best day of my life in running, I have loved every second and soaked it in,” said Steyn in her post-race interview. 

“Of course, I can’t do it without my support system. I felt like the entire country was screaming my name and I can’t put that into words, it was amazing.”