Super shoes and increased prize money have made a difference, but elite runners deserve credit for changing the game.
Gerda Steyn after winning her fifth Comrades Marathon title in Pietermaritzburg. Picture: Gerhard Duraan/Gallo Images
The performances at the front of the field in recent years at the Comrades Marathon have been remarkable, and the efforts of the elite athletes last weekend were mind blowing.
At the ‘up’ run in 2019, Edward Mothibi won the race in 5:31:33. On Sunday he completed the race in 5:30:03 (one-and-a-half minutes quicker) and finished 11th.
Gerda Steyn won the women’s race in 5:44:54 at the weekend. In 2019, achieving the same time, she would have finished sixth overall in the men’s race. And Nobukhosi Tshuma, the second woman on Sunday in 5:53:36, would have taken 12th position overall just seven years ago.
There are reasons for this, but the reality is that the game has changed, and the bar has been raised.
This year’s race was the shortest in the history of the event, at 85.77km, and the records were always going to be in danger, so it’s not entirely shocking that the top five men all dipped under the previous mark (which stood for 18 years) and two women ran under six hours on the ‘up’ run for the first time.
But both the men’s and women’s winners, George Kusche and Gerda Steyn, ran the fastest average pace ever achieved, and the shorter course offers no explanation for that.
Shoes and prize money
Of course, we also can’t talk about road running records these days without mentioning super shoes.
The latest technology used by shoe manufacturers has seen road running records tumble across all distances, and it’s no different in ultras, with athletes taking big chunks off national and global marks.
In addition, the Comrades organisers and sponsors have done well in recent years to significantly increase prize money and incentives.
Not only has this lit a fire under local runners, but it has even made the race more attractive to foreign athletes, as was evident by the strong international fields that turned out in both the men’s and women’s contests between Durban and Pietermaritzburg last week.
Steyn, Dijana and Kusche
On top of this, ultra-distance queen Gerda Steyn has raised the bar, which has seen both the quality and depth improving dramatically behind her breakthrough performances in the women’s race in recent years, while the likes of Tete Dijana and George Kusche have done the same among the men, pushing the boundaries of what was previously considered possible.
So as much as I think the shoes have played a big role, it’s not the only factor.
And based on the improvements we’re seen over the last few years, next year’s 100th edition of the Comrades Marathon should be a cracker.
