Two Oceans: Gerda Steyn dominates again, but Khoarahlane Seutloali steals the spotlight

CAPE TOWN - IT was competitive. It was brutal! And it produced a winner from left field.

Unlike the women’s race that should perhaps be named the “Gerda Steyn Training Run” given her dominance that has now stretched to six successive years, the men’s Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon is not a race you can predict.

Year after year, the 56km ultra that is renowned as "The World’s Most Beautiful Marathon" produces a new winner – the last time a man defended his title was way back in 2005 when Marco Mambo completed a back-to-back.

There was some hope that Onalenna Khnonkhobe would change that and the Nedbank Athletic Club runner promised that much with his typical bold pronouncements at the pre-race media conference. But the man who calls himself the Head of the Table saw dust as he was dropped up the notorious Constantia Nek as eventual winner Khoarahlane Seutloali shifted into a higher gear.

The Hollywood Athletics Club runner faced some stiff competition from Siboniso Sikhakhane who actually appeared the stronger at about 53km with rookie Lucky Mohale looming large as a threat.

But with the experienced Nkosikhona Mhlakawana on their heels and even catching up to them with two kilometers to go, it looked as though The Pitbull would bite hard.

The Two Oceans is a monster of a race though and even after Constantia Nek there are some tough climbs at which the two-time podium finisher was dropped and ended up having to be content with fourth place.

His teammate Seutloali motored away to cross the finish line in 3:10:46, a good 31 seconds ahead of Sikhakhane who had stopped a bit towards the end but still managed to get the silver-medal position before breaking down during the interview – such was his delight.

The biggest shock was no doubt Mohale getting on to the podium in his first venture into the ultras, the Nedbank runner coming in at 3:11:26  had threatened to steal the bridesmaid's position from Sikhakhane.

But Seutloali’s victory was straight out of left field – the Hollywood athlete not having been mentioned once as a potential victor pre-race.

And how could he have been when he was lining up against the likes of former champions Khonkhobe and Givemore Mudzinganyama as well as Lloyd Bosman, who has been runner up.

Stephen Mokoka once again failed to finish as his move up to the ultras appears to be a mighty challenge for the legendary standard marathon runner.

But as the race spat out the runners off the big leading bunch one-by-one, Seutloali stayed the course and stuck to his game plan thanks to the lessons he picked up from his eighth-place finish from last year.

“I am very happy because I was number eight last year and I saw that I needed to improve some aspects of my running,” he said during the television interview.

The Two Oceans has, however, over the last few years been the Gerda Steyn Show and the “Smiling Assassin” once again delivered the goods as she won the race at a canter for a sixth successive title in 3:29:06.

“I am not at all (disappointed), I feel it was 100 percent successful. You can’t always break the record, getting a sixth victory in a row is a 10 out of 10.

"I planned to go a little faster in the first half, a minute quicker than last year and I was right on plan because it made everyone tired. I opened a gap early on and it was relaxing and a motivation.”

Like her teammate Mokoka, Irvette Van Zyl who was expected to give Steyn a challenge also did not finish.

In both races, Entsika Athletic Club took the runner’s up berth with Sikhakhane coming in after Seutloali with his 3:11:17 while Kenyan Shelmet Miruiki crossed the line long after Steyn had done her obligatory television interview.

Lesotho’s Neheng Khathala showed that her Soweto Marathon victory late last year was no fluke as she completed the podium positions in third spot.