Steyn prepared, Dijana stunned by pace at record-breaking Comrades

While women’s champion Gerda Steyn had thought about chasing a breakthrough time when she stood on the start line on Sunday, men’s winner Tete Dijana admitted he was stunned by the fast pace set during a record-shattering edition of the Comrades Marathon in KwaZulu-Natal.

Both the men’s and women’s winners broke the ‘down’ run records in the quickest ever edition of the annual race, which was held for the 96th time.

READ MORE: Dijana and Steyn shatter records to win Comrades Marathon

Taking advantage of the 87km course between Pietermaritzburg and Durban, which was around two kilometres shorter than usual, defending men’s champion Dijana won in 5:13:58, breaking the men’s ‘down’ run record of 5:18:19 which had been set by David Gatebe in 2016.

He held off a late challenge from Dutch athlete Piet Wiersma who took second place in 5:14:01 in one of the closest ever Comrades finishes. Former ‘up’ run winner Edward Mothibi (5:17:34 in third place) also dipped under the previous record.

Dijana admitted afterwards that he had not expected such a quick race, with the top 10 men all finishing under 5:30:00 for the first time.

“We had a (Nedbank Running Club) team talk and we had a plan, but the pace was very fast which made things uncertain for us,” he said.

“It was only in the last five kilometres that I really thought about going for the record.”

Confident Steyn

Steyn, meanwhile, lived up to the pre-race hype, charging to victory in the women’s race in 5:44:54 and breaking the 34-year-old women’s ‘down’ run record (5:54:43) held by Frith van der Merwe.

Adele Broodryk was her nearest challenger, finishing nearly 12 minutes off the pace (5:56:26) in second position after she too produced a well-judged effort to run under six hours.

Admitting she had woken up yesterday morning with the record at the back of her mind, Steyn was grateful to the crowds along the side of the route for carrying her across the line, as well as the support she had received across the nation.

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“I felt like I had the entire country screaming my name in support, and I can’t tell you how that made me feel,” said Steyn, who referred to the race and its atmosphere as “magical”.

“I wanted to do it for everyone who was watching and everyone who will be inspired by this.”It was a lucrative pay day for Dijana and Steyn, who each took home R1.2 million in prize money and record bonuses.

Around 18 000 runners entered the 96th edition of the Comrades Marathon, ensuring it remained the world’s oldest and largest ultra-marathon race.