No limit in sight for record-breaking runner Gerda Steyn

In terms of cementing her place among South Africa’s all-time greats, road runner Gerda Steyn has nothing left to prove.

Over the last few years, she’s been there, done that and got all the t-shirts to show for it.

Steyn is a bit of an enigma. After taking up the sport at the age of 24, the 33-year-old road running star hasn’t followed the path we usually see athletes taking by climbing the ranks from junior to professional level.

And because she’s one of a kind, it’s really difficult to predict just how fast she can run. All we know at this stage is that she’s already super fast and she’s still improving.

Within three years of taking her first steps in road running shoes, she had already dipped under two hours, 40 minutes (2:40) in the marathon, and two years later she became only the fifth South African woman to go under 2:30 (Irvette van Zyl has since joined her under that barrier).

Building on her early progress, Steyn has continued to make huge strides, showcasing remarkable versatility that is almost unheard of in the sport.

Breaking records

Since 2019 she has won the gruelling Comrades Marathon twice, breaking the ‘up’ and ‘down’ run records, and she has won the Two Oceans ultra-marathon four times in succession, shredding the long-standing record held by Frith van der Merwe which had seemed almost unbreakable.

Over the standard marathon distance (42km) she has twice broken the national record, most recently with an impressive 2:24:03 clocking in Valencia last week.

And with nippy personal bests over 10km (32:24) and 21km (1:10:55) she has shown a turn of speed rarely seen in athletes who are considered ultra-distance specialists.

That, however, is the most impressive thing about Steyn. She’s not an ultra-distance specialist.

She’s done so well over the standard marathon distance, it will not be a surprise if she secures a top-10 finish at next year’s Olympic Games in Paris (provided she opts for the showpiece ahead of a Comrades title defence).

With just nine years of running under her belt, it also seems pretty clear that she can go even quicker than she has already run.

For most supremely talented athletes, the sky might be the limit, but Steyn lives on her own planet in the sporting universe with a newly formed atmosphere that has no sky.

Only time will tell us just how good she really is.