By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Photo Credit: Tobias Ginsberg / Comrades Marathon Association.
In the women’s race, defending champion Gerda Steyn became only the second woman (after Russia’s Elena Nurgalieva) to win the Comrades Marathon title five times.
Steyn completed the race in 5:44:53, obliterating her own record of 5:49:46 which she set in 2024.
Zimbabwe’s Nobukhosi Tshuma finished second in 05:53:36, while another South African, Irvette van Zyl, bagged the third podium spot in 06:02:30. Four South Africans finished in the top 10 in the women’s race.
Top 10 finishers in the women’s race:
- Gerda Steyn (RSA) – 05:44:53
- Nombukhosi Tshuma (Zimbabwe) – 05:53:36
- Irvette van Zyl (RSA) – 06:02:30
- Naomi Robinson (UK) – 06:07:55
- Loveness Madziva (Zimbabwe) – 06:09:54
- Courtney Olsen (USA) – 06:11:20
- Dikiledi Majara (Lesotho) – 06:12:29
- Jenet Mbhele (RSA) – 06:13:08
- Alena Tatarinova (Russia) – 06:15:05
- Kebogile Motshabi (RSA) – 06:21:49.
Steyn is already in second place on the all-time list of women’s winners, with only Nurgalieva ahead of her with eight wins.
The Russian ultramarathoner’s era of dominance was unprecedented and no other woman has won this race more.
Since 2019, however, there has been a different queen on the hills. That year, Steyn etched her name into Comrades history when she became the first woman to break the six-hour barrier on the “up run”, winning in a remarkable time of 5:58:53.
She was further victorious in 2023 on the “down run” when she crossed the finish line in 5:44:54, obliterating Frith van der Merwe’s record, which had stood for more than three decades, by nine minutes.
Steyn was at it again in 2024 when she shattered her own “up run” record from 2019 with a blistering time of 5:49:46.
Earlier this year in April, Steyn won the Two Oceans ultramarathon for the seventh successive time.
Although her performance in the marathon has still been world-class, it isn’t to the same astounding level of her ultramarathon efforts. She finished 15th at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021, coming in at 2:32:10, and was 45th at the Paris Olympics last year with 2:32:51.