The Mother City excitedly awaits! As it prepares to host one of its crown jewels in sports - the TotalSports Two Oceans Marathon - Cape Town road running is abuzz with excitement, anticipating yet another stellar showing from the country’s darling of the road.

Gerda Steyn has made her name synonymous with that of the ultra marathon fondly referred to as the World’s Most Beautiful Marathon after five years of incredible running in the 56km event. A winner in all of the last five editions of the race, the ‘Smiling Assassin’ has run record times in the previous three as she cemented her status as ultra running’s golden girl. She is expected to win the race yet again, and in record time too.

Perhaps more intriguing about this year’s edition taking place on Saturday t is whether she and Irvette Van Zyl will produce yet another run for the ages as they did back in 2022 when they both shattered the long-standing record set before Steyn was born and Van Zyl was just two years old.

Frith Van Der Merwe’s 3:30:36 time from 1989 was previously thought of as an ‘unbreakable’ but Steyn and Van Zyl ran such an incredible race three years ago they left those who’d made that pronouncement eat humble pie as they crossed the finish line in 3:29:49 and 3:30:31 respectively.

It remains one of the most thrilling women’s races in Two Oceans history, Van Zyl showcasing her renowned r climbing strength by cresting the notorious Constantia Nek ahead of her rival. Steyn is a fighter though and she dug deep to take the lead from her adversary who hit the wall in a big way, going on to win the race. She repeated the feat the following year (2023) as she sliced off a good 41 seconds from the time.

Last year should have been yet another fascinating encounter between the two but while they again finished in positions one and two, Steyn was never challenged as Van Zyl tripped a mere four kilometers into the race. But the Pretoria runner did not allow the scraped and bleeding knee to deter her and she still pushed hard enough for second place three minutes behind Steyn who improved the record to 3:26:54.

Fascinatingly the duo has now teamed up at Hollywood Athletics Club who eventually secured Steyn’s signature after ‘years of chasing her’ and they will be racing as teammates.

Do not, however, misconstrue that fact to suggest they are going to be buddy-buddy on the road. Far from it, for the two athletes are highly competitive and will stop at nothing to be the one breasting the tape at the finish line in Cape Town first.

Of course, Steyn is going to toe the stat line as favourite. But she knows only too well that Van Zyl will not allow her to have it easy. Though she’s beaten her on all the three occasions they’ve raced Two Oceans, nothing is guaranteed in this sport. And Van Zyl would have gained some kind of confidence from having ‘beaten’ Steyn at the Paris Olympics Marathon where she finished in 37th place with a time of 2:31:14 - a good six places, a minute and 36 seconds ahead of Styen. Surely that is something for Van Zyl to draw inspiration from?

Whatever happens on race day, there can be no denying that the clash between the two Hollywood Athletics Club stars is going to be the main attraction of next weekend’s TotalSports Two Oceans Marathon. And Cape Town, and the whole country, is excitedly awaiting.

IOL Sport