Steyn and Mokoka headline Cape Town Marathon field
COURSE record holder and 2018 winner, Stephen Mokoka and SA Marathon record holder, Gerda Steyn, were unveiled yesterday as South Africa’s leading runners in a stellar men’s and women’s field for the Cape Town Marathon on 17 October.
Mokoka’s return to the Cape Town Marathon stems from a deep desire to own the fastest marathon time on SA soil. “It is no secret that my (late) father-in-law (Zithulele Sinqe) has the fastest marathon time on South Africa soil. I want to own that 2:08:04, and the fast and flat course of Cape Town is perfect to run that time.”
For Steyn, the Cape Town Marathon has a special meaning. Since turning her focus onto the marathon, Steyn has improved steadily and made a big marathon breakthrough when she qualified for the Tokyo Olympics after running 2:27:48 at the New York Marathon in 2019.
Under trying conditions Steyn took a minute off that time in London in September last year to clock 2:26:51, before smashing the long-standing SA record of Colleen de Reuck (2:26:35 – 1996) when she finished ninth at the Sienna Marathon in Italy in April, finishing in an astounding 2:25:28.
And so, for the first time, she lines up at a marathon as one of the favourites to win her first-ever marathon on SA soil.
“To be able to run against some of the best in my first-ever marathon on home soil is special for me.
“So that in itself comes with pressure.
“I put pressure on myself to run well, and with ladies on my heels it will be a great race,” Steyn said.
Steyn can expect stiff opposition from Lucy Karimi after the Kenyan finished third in the Geneva Marathon in 2:24:24. Ethiopia’s Nurif Shimels, who finished second at the Cape Town Marathon in 2019 in 2:27:40, is also back.