7 Wins For Gerda while SA’s Jantjies Shocks The Favourites
There was no stopping Gerda Steyn at the Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon on Saturday. The 37-year-old ultra Queen made it seven wins in a row and clocked the second fastest time in history over the 56km course.
Steyn, running with her trademark smile for most of the race, finished in 3 hours 27 minutes and 43 seconds, just 49 seconds off her own 2024 course record. Kenya’s Margaret Jepchumba, who had managed to stay with Steyn until the 42km mark, finished second in 3:33.31. Steyn has now won every Two Oceans since 2018.
In the men’s race, 25-year-old Arthur Jantjies, from Hopetown in the Northern Cape, outlasted 2024 winner Onalenna Khonkhobe of South Africa after a cut-and-thrust final 14km to win in 3:09.25. Khonkhobe finished second in 3:10.00 with Zimbabwean Blessing Waison, who had led the race up until the 49km mark, hanging on bravely for third in 3:11.13.
It was on the second ultra marathon Jantjies had run after finishing sixth in the City To City Ultra in 2025, but under the guidance of coach John Hamlett, he had trained hard for a top placing at the Two Oceans.
“We did more than enough training,” the Pan African Resources club runner said. “Our coach pushed us hard, and there were times when I thought I was a bit overcooked.”
I could hear people shouting ‘Go, Gerda, Go!’ In training, you log lots of miles out on your own, so this feels like a celebration of all the work that has been done.
But it was yet another remarkable performance from Steyn, with local fans cheering her on around the famous course. Jepchumba was the only one of the leading athletes to stay with Steyn as she blasted up Chapmans Peak and headed towards the final challenge up Constantia Nek. As the two approached the 42.2km mark, Steyn accelerated on the slow drag towards the climb, and Jepchumba was unable to stay with the pace.
“I knew it would be a challenging race with a strong women’s field this year,” Steyn said. “I felt today that there were a lot more ladies right there until very late in the race, so I had to focus on winning.
“Going for the record did go through my mind but the main focus was just keeping the pace high to ensure the win. I still feel I ran a strong race, so I’m very happy with the result.”
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Steyn was also overwhelmed with the support she got on the route.
“I can’t explain it in words. Even early in the morning, when you can barely see anyone, I could hear people shouting ‘Go, Gerda, Go!’ In training, you log lots of miles out on your own, so this feels like a celebration of all the work that has been done. It has a lot of meaning to me.”
Gerda clocked an average pace of 3:42 mins/km over the distance with her final 6km split of 21:35 moving her up from 34th position overall to 24th on the finish line.
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In the men’s race, Zimbabwean Blessing Waison was part of a early break that got clear of the main bunch within the first kilometre. Waison led by 1:30 over the chasers at the 42.2km mark and continued to lead over the top of Constantia Nek despite his pace slowing. The Nek had already broken up the lead bunch and only Jantjies, Khonkhobe and defending champion Joseph Seutloali had survived.
…in training we always picked up our pace in the final 8km of all our runs so I knew I could keep going…
Waison was eventually caught by the trio at the 49km mark, and soon after, the wiry Khonkhobe made his bid for glory with a spirited acceleration on the descent down towards Kirstenbosch. But Jantjies, who has never beaten Khonkhobe, refused to surrender and as Khonkhobe faltered, Jantjies surged past while Seutloali was left behind and failed to finish.
“I know that Oneleanna is faster than me and I knew he would have a strong finish,” Jantjies said, “but in training we always picked up our pace in the final 8km of all our runs so I knew I could keep going. I just focused on my stride and knew I wasn’t going to stop.
“Maybe he (Khonkhobe) gave up too early, but when I caught him, I just went.”
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