Nedbank Runified: Irvette van Zyl
A staggering eight 50km IAU World Record times were broken on Sunday in the Nedbank Runified: Breaking Barriers 50km IAU World record attempt in Nelson Mandela Bay.
On a breathless winter’s morning with not a cloud in the sky, Africa’s finest long-distance runners took full advantage of both the pristine weather conditions and the fast 10-km lap course along Marine Drive on the City beachfront to smash one record after the other.
The men’s title, which had been held by Thompson Magawana for over 30 years, was broken by Ethiopian Ketema Negasa at 2h42:06.
South Africa's Irvette Van Zyl, who started the race as a pace runner, crossed the finish line in 3h:04:23 to break the record and be the first South African female to break the 50km IAU World record.
“The conditions were great and I felt good,” said Van Zyl. “At 30km I was meant to go off but I felt good. After our manager Nick Bester gave me the signal, I pushed through to the finish line. If you asked me a year ago today, I wouldn’t have said that I would be here today due to my knee surgery but this is such a proud moment for me and I am grateful for this opportunity.”
Its been a dream couple of months for Van Zyl as the three-time Soweto Marathon winner also recently qualified for the Marathon at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.
In her debut ultramarathon, Kenyan long-distance runner Lillian Chemweno crossed the finish line in 3h:05:00 to break the second world record time of the day. Closing out the podium was Dominika Stelmach to give the Nedbank running club a 1-2-3 finish.
“After months of planning and all the hard-work, we came here today to break records, and that’s exactly what we did,” said Bester. “We ticked every box to make sure that all procedures and rules were adhered to in order for our race to be official and IAU World records to stand.”
