Steyn welcomes challenge in her fourth Comrades win

THE reign is likely to continue unabated at least for the foreseeable future.

- MATSHELANE MAMABOLO

But there's every reason to believe it will not be the no-contest it had been in previous years.

Gerda Steyn's fourth victory in the Comrades Marathon was not as compellingly dominant as her previous three. The Smiling Assassin beat second-placed Alexandra Morozova by just three minutes, clocking 5:51:09 in Sunday's Down Run from Pietermaritzburg to Durban.

Steyn sportingly welcomed the challenge, with the Russian runnerwho won three years ago in her absence - just a minute behind at one stage of the race. "To have had that competition was also good, not just for me to raise my performance but also for the race," Steyn said, during the post-race media conference deep in the bowels of the Moses Mabhida Stadium.

"It is no surprise to see a tight time of only three minutes between us, because Alexandra had done well. We can expect faster times to come - and Comrades deserves it." The Hollywood Athletics Club star said she relishes being challenged and enjoys seeing more talented runners enter the race because "it is exciting to get competition. "As I said in the pre-race conference," she added, "we are entertainers, and I hope it (the race) was great to watch. It is not a one-woman show. When I heard Alex (Morozova) had gained a minute on me at Fields Hill, it made me work harder.

The competition makes me want to be in my very best shape whenever I go into the race." She was indeed in stellar shape on Sunday and, though she did not lead from the outset, she always looked destined for another comfortable victory -despite the high calibre of the elite women's start list.