After announcing earlier this year that she’s aiming to tackle the Comrades Marathon for the first time in her career, Irvette Van Zyl has been classified in the ‘contenders’ category by athletics pundits. Thathe Msimango caught up with her.
And it’s justified when looking over her remarkable athletics CV that she has built in a decorated career stretching for over two decades. Still, the 37-year-old downplays her chances come Sunday 8 June.
“I don’t think of myself as the favourite to win the race or being among the contenders. There are couple of exceptional ladies that have more experience of running the race and they are expected to deliver big performances,” explains Van Zyl.
“Since I’m going to run the race for the first time, it’ll be better to take it as a learning experience. The important thing is to run comfortably from the start to the finish. You don’t want to start too hard and end up blowing in the latter stages of the race. I have to run the first 50km well knowing there is almost another 50km coming up. The distance is quite different from what I have done in my career and I must be cautious,” she said.
Building up to the big day, Van Zyl has been dropping some outstanding performances on the road. . The multiple Olympian won the Tshwane Ultra (19 April) in 3:27.14 before going on to win the Loskop Marathon in 03:18:12. Earlier this month, she reigned supreme in the Miway Wally Hayward Marathon. Van Zyl believes the training and mileage in her legs will be enough to take her to People’s Park.
“I think I have done well in terms of doing long runs. You have to listen to the body to avoid overdoing them. I feel I have also done well in getting the mileage in. I would say it’s been a very good build up leading into the race. I didn’t miss any training which is a good indication that I’m feeling well. At the same time, you can’t guarantee or be 100 percent going to the race. Sometimes, you need luck to be on your side in order to succeed on race day. In the end, it’s all about trusting your abilities too,” said, Van Zyl, who has won the Soweto Marathon a record four times and in the process has the three fastest times ever run on that course.
Despite testing the route in the second week of May, which she described as ‘brutal‘ the former Women’s only 50km Record Holder reveals that she is optimistic of delivering a good result on race day.
“I have tested the course a bit and I find it brutal. It is quite different from what you see when watching the race on television. I’m prepared physically and have good mental strength. I respect the ladies I’m going to be up against. I can’t promise much since I’m going for the first one. A podium finish will be a huge bonus for me. The main thing for me is to finish race while feeling comfortable,” she concluded.
