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10 June 2019 | Story Ruan Bruwer | Photo Gerda Steyn Twitter
Gerda Steyn
Gerda Steyn, a former student at the University of the Free State, won her first Comrades race on Sunday, setting a new course record.
Winning the Comrades ultra-marathon is the greatest honour of her life and still feels unreal, said Gerda Steyn a day after winning the race in a record time.
 
The former Kovsie student had an incredible race on Sunday, completing the 86,83 km’s in a time of 05:58:54, which is a new record for women in the up run. It is more than 10 minutes faster than the previous record of 06:09:23 set in 2006.
 
It was also the fourth fastest Comrades time ever by a female in the 94-year history of the race.
 
Greatest honour of my life
 
“Being the Comrades winner is the greatest honour of my life. Thank you to an entire nation for carrying me to the line. It feels like a dream,” Steyn said.
 
The 29-year-old Steyn became the first woman in 30 years to win both the Comrades and Two Oceans in the same year. She also won the Two Oceans in 2018 and came second in the Comrades last year.
 
Steyn, who studied Quantity Surveying and Construction Management at the University of the Free State (UFS) between 2009 and 2012, said the record time was discussed beforehand.
 
I went for it
 
“We felt it was possible, but it wasn’t my main goal right from the start of the race. At the halfway mark, I saw it was possible and I went for it.”
 
According to Steyn, the media attention since her win is quite intense. “But I don’t complain. It is such an honour, so I do it with a smile.”
 
At the Two Oceans ultra-marathon in April, she missed out on the 30-year record time by just 53 seconds.
 
Prof Francis Petersen, UFS Rector and Vice-Chancellor, said Steyn was a proud ambassador of the university. “It is always important for me to see how our former students perform. I would like to congratulate her. Well done. She is carrying the Kovsie name with pride,” Prof Petersen said.
 

News Archive

Enough is enough, says students
2013-02-15

A student writes the name of a friend who has been a victim of rape, on the T-shirt worn by Mody Motholo – Former SRC interim president.
Photo: Jerry Mokoroane
14 February 2013



“I am morally tied to stop rape”, students say

Kovsie student and former SRC Interim President Mody Motholo is creating awareness about rape with a campaign called “I am morally tied to stop rape”.

As part of the campaign Mody chained herself to a tree on the Bloemfontein Campus to show how many of our students and women are living in bondage as a result of this type of crime. Students walking past the campaign station interacted with Mody, who informed them about the rape issues affecting students across our country and how we can join hands to stop the increasing cases of rape, both reported and not reported.

Students could also write down the names of victims on her T-shirt, which will later be used as an indication of this terrible crime in our country. “The first name written on this T-shirt was that of the latest reported rape case, namely Anene Booysen who was brutally gang raped.

"Within an hour this T-shirt was covered in names, which was an indication to me of the seriousness of the problems some students who are victims of rape are struggling with around our campus,” said Mody.

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