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In City Press’ build-up to the Comrades Marathon on Sunday, we predicted that a “member” of the Nedbank Running Club’s Green Dream Team would run away with the men’s first prize - that defending champion Tete Dijana “appears to be in great shape to post yet another winning run”.
Similarly, we had placed Gerda Steyn as the odds-on favourite for the women’s title.
READ: Comrades Marathon: who is your money on? Track the top runners and your friends here
And, oh boy, Dijana and Steyn delivered record-breaking performances as South Africa claimed the men’s and women’s double at the 96th edition of the Comrades Marathon on Sunday.
There will be more cash streaming in from their sponsors.
Apart from the heroics of Dijana and Steyn, the race also saw the fall of another 34-year-old record when 81-year-old Johannes Mosehla from Sekhukhune in Limpopo became the oldest runner to finish a Comrades race.
With his 9:26:10 finishing time on Sunday. Mosehla broke the record set by Wally Hayward as the oldest person to complete the race. Hayward clocked 10:58:03 in 1989 aged 80, meaning Mosehla also bettered the time.
READ: R1.2 million Comrades carrot dangled in front of South African runners
Dijana crossed the finish line in 5:13:58, smashing the men’s down run best time of 5:18:19, which was set by another local runner, David Gatebe, in 2016.
With her victory, Steyn took nearly 10 minutes off the best time of 5:54:43 set by Frith van der Merwe 34 years ago.
Steyn is 33 years old.
Here are other interesting facts from Sunday's race:
Due to the course of this year’s down run measuring 87.1km (2.2km shorter), the men’s runner-up Piet Wiersma from the Netherlands (5:14:01) and third-placed Edward Mothibi (5:17:34) also dipped under Gatebe’s mark.
In fact, all the men in the top 10 dipped under five hours 30 minutes, which was for the first time in the 100-odd-year history of the race.
The women’s runner-up, Adele Broodryk, finished in the second place, a notch up from third in her debut last year.
In the men’s top 10, three runners had won Comrades before - Tete last year, Mothobi in 2019 and Gift Kelehe in 2015.
The women’s top 10 had Steyn (winner of the uprun in 2019) and last year’s champion Alexandra Morozova.
Meanwhile, Wiersa was running in his first Comrades.
Comrades Marathon results:
Top 10 men
1. Tete Dijana (RSA) 5:13:58
2. Piet Wiersma (Netherlands) 5:14:01
3. Edward Mothibi (RSA) 5:17:34
4. Gordon Lesetedi (RSA) 5:20:43
5. Rufus Photo (RSA) 5:21:48
6. Johannes Makgetla (RSA) 5:23:34
7. Teboho Sello (RSA) 5:24:23
8. Aleksei Beresnev (Russia) 5:24:41
9. Gift Kelehe (RSA) 5:27:53
10. Joseph Manyedi 5:29:49
Top 10 women
1. Gerda Steyn (RSA) 5:44:54
2. Adele Broodryk (RSA) 5:56:26
3. Carla Molinaro (RSA) 6:00:23
4. Dominika Stelmach (Poland) 6:06:02
5. Caitriona Jennings (Ireland) 6:10:27
6. Alexandra Morozova (Russia) 6:14:33
7. Petra Pastorova (Russia) 6:22:34
8. Noora Honkala (Finland) 6:25:00
9. Camille Chaigneau (France) 6:26:58
10. Jenet Mbhele (RSA) 6:27:14
This year's race was the first time post-Covid that was run under its traditional slot of the June date after the last edition was staged in August last year.
#ComradesMarathon2023 All hail Tete Dijana! Defended his Comrades Marathon title in 5:14 - shattering David Gatebe's best down run time of 5:18:19 from 2016@City_Press
— Tromps Mothowagae ?????? ???? (@DanieMothowagae) June 11, 2023
??: Darren Stewart/Gallo Images pic.twitter.com/fkHlVNPusc
