Steyn crossed the line in a superb time of 35:36, and that on a course that was inaccurate and roughly 400m too long.

Nevertheless, what made the victory even sweeter was that Gerda’s older sister Estie, finished in 3rd position, which meant it was the first time the sisters shared a podium together.

 

Gerda’s PB comes shortly after she bettered her marathon PB late last year at the Valencia Marathon in Spain where she took 14 minutes off her previous best to finish in 12th position in a time of 2:37:19. Gerda is now ranked 3rd on the 2017 SA Marathon rankings.

 

Great day out
The race was held on the quiet roads of Zayed Sport City in Abu Dhabi and organized by the Abu Dhabi Striders. “It was my first time running this race. The 10km course was flat and fast and I was very pleased to cross the finish line with a new PB of 35:36. Abu Dhabi’s running community is vibrant and what makes it special for me is that you will always find a large group of South Africans signing up for races and cheering on the ‘Nedbank girl’,” says Gerda.

She plans to take on another 10km race this coming weekend and better her time. “The course was inaccurate which meant adding around 1 minute to my time, so fingers crossed for this coming weekend!”

 

Training
Gerda’s main focus is the Comrades Marathon in June and she will return to South Africa in February to fully concentrate on the race. “For the past two months I have been keeping mileage down as I have learnt a hard lesson last year starting the year on a very low note. I have been enjoying cycling and doing all sorts of cross training since November. I decided this year not to plan ahead too far in advance and just continue to do what works for me and my body. I will be based in Johannesburg from February until June and am planning to do some local races in training towards Comrades. I am very excited to get more involved with the running community in Gauteng and am hoping to meet new running and cycling partners in the coming months.”

 

Comrades favourite
Gerda is seen as one of the favourites to line up at the 2018 Comrades Marathon. The women’s race promises to be an exhilarating event this year with some of the most competitive women on the starting line. 

 

Bruce Fordyce, the King of Comrades himself, has recently listed Gerda as one of the women’s favourites. Her Comrades runs so far (56th, 14th, 4th) reminds him of his own very similar ladder of progress back in the 70s and early 80s. “I always pay special attention to those runners who improve steadily each year regardless of the direction in which the Comrades is run.”