Comrades Ultra Marathon 2014

After reading a friend's amazing Comrades 2012 report, I said one day I wanted to run this race.

For those who dont know Comrades - it is the world's oldest ultra marathon, a 89km / 56 mile run held in South Africa that describes itself as "the Ultimate Human Race". Each year it alternates starting from either Durban or Pietermaritzburg finishing at the other end meaning two completely different courses to test you. Different medals for certain times to push any runner but you must finish in under 12 hours or no medal. 2014 being a "down" year (PMB to Durban is sort of down) fitted into my plans so went for it. Down is easier right? 

Marathons had got a bit soulless so I'd been doing a few trail ultras upto fifty miles to keep challenging myself and enjoying running. Good training from October, though two 3-4 week blips with virus in January and tonsillitis in April took a bit out of my legs and missed key training, but still managed a number of marathons, back to back runs & events finishing with a hilly 12 hour 52 mile trail run in early May, which seemed ideal prep. At 56 miles how much harder could Comrades be? :)

A few days before the race... Long 18 hr flight, could spot loads of runners, excitement building all the way. Staying in Durban near the finish, huge expo to pick up number and also some merch. Think VLM expo but far more friendly. Really well organised, speedy entry for international runners to avoid 2-3 hour queues that locals had to wait in and free teas and coffees. Fantastic atmosphere, you could tell from peoples numbers they had done 10-30+ races... Amazing. Everyone so friendly, thanking you for coming, wanting to know why you were doing it. One marshal Harv chatted and was very enthusiastic, told me he would see me on finish line and I would understand why this race is so special. Also saw Bruce Fordyce 9 times winner in 1980s do a talk and got a photo with him. He can still run the course in 8hrs now, but in his prime, 5hrs 25, probably one of THE endurance athletes of the 20th century.

Couldn't help smiling next to a living legend!

Lots of nice kit to buy, very tempting, get embroidered if you wanted it and even free massages. Went back the next day, all the kit gone, shelves empty. VLM you can get kit for weeks, even months later some available. Not Comrades, even the kit was special, people wearing tshirts tops from previous years as prized possessions.

Started to feel how big Comrades was to South Africans, for UK readers think Wimbledon and FA Cup finals day squashed into one BIG national event. Getting very nervous with the scale to it. Day before, 6am, stretched in bed - cramp in right calf. Really sore, a little bruised. Felt miserable, to have trained for this for 9 months and travelled so far, and now unsure I could manage 20k, let alone 89k before the calf went? Any thought of running Comrades in sub 9 hours was gone, just aim to finish, 11 or 12 hours. Confidence way down, not zero but certainly not my usual positive self. Managed to get calf taped up at the expo but probably was not the greatest company all day. Ate last pasta early afternoon, somehow managed to sleep.

Durban Sunday morning 2:30am, big hugs then left wife to get bus to start. All roads near the finish now blocked off, had to climb over 5-6 barriers, really did not want to push the calf and now doing an obstacle course? On the coach, seemed to be going entirely down...so surely that meant the way back was up? Confused. Didn't have time to do route tour, knowing it was going to be tough was enough.

Once at PMB, found toilets, into starting pen with 30 minutes to spare. Easy. Had worried about the cold start people had mentioned, was cool but pleasant.. Swigged energade, warm up, stretches, leg swings, all set.

The beginning did not disappoint. Everyone talks about the start of Comrades, all bunched up ready to go, South Africa national anthem sung, then "Shosholoza" an old miners song... With chorus of "Keep going. Move faster on those mountains" Very emotional .. Then chariots of fire music then 3 cockerel crows. Spine tingling. See here.

Gun Fires. We are off. 18000 runners surge forward. A little downhill at start, took it easy, let people go, not risking calf. Hills started, chatted to Adam, fellow uk runner. Realised now why we had our race numbers and names on both front AND back of our vests. Everyone knew your name, and if it was your first attempt or 20th, chatted to you, asked where you were from. Such a friendly atmosphere, 1000s of us but all together. Some of the South Africans laughed and asked why Adam had 12 gels on his belt, was he running a mobile shop? Funny. We kept to run / walk taking it easy on some of the ups, especially the one at Polly Shortts, still comfortably on for low 10 hours or under. We ran up past a very smelly chicken farm.. Kfc no thank you.

Drink stations every 2-3k, little plastic packets of water or sports drink, bite the top and swig. Coke and other drinks also. Still pretty cool, gloves on, kilometres were clicking by, although hard to work out, Comrades is the only race the signs tell the distance you have to left to go, not run. 

Around 22k started to feel a bit off, nauseous, something disagreeing with me. Kept running but stomach worse, toilet stop needed, around Camperdown. Sadly said my goodbyes to Adam. 5 people in queue ahead, clock ticking. Carried on another 2k, running cross legged not easy plus feeling could be sick. Stopped again, waited in queue 2-3 minutes., portaloo had been (cough) very "popular" so not pleasant. Needs must, thankfully had tissues with me.. Stood up, loo wasn't very stable, and rocked. Things were bad but I literally would have been in a shitload of trouble if it had fallen over:). Off running again, Felt a lot better, but had nearly vomited, probably would've finished me off very quickly with dehydration. 

Problem now, what to drink and eat? Energade sports drink clearly didn't agree with me, coke maybe? Trail ultras I'd eat all sorts, malt loaf, sandwiches, but with delicate stomach and jarring impact from the road, was struggling. Had kept a sports bottle with me from start and electrolyte tabs in pouch, so could keep hydrated and replacing salts. Did have some clif blok shots, chewed one cube but felt queasy. Coke, water and occasional electrolytes seemed only choice.

Within a few minutes, spotted another Uk vest, female, said hello. Camilla had been a 5h30 Liverpool R&R marathon pacer, had actually seen her whilst manning our club water station. So much easier to run together and in good company, the hills kept coming and very little down.. Just up and up. We ran what was possible, regular walking breaks, pacing the mile splits so on for sub 11 according to our pace bands with time to spare.. just to make your brain work that little harder Comrades is the only race that tells you the distance you have still to go, not how far you have run. Also had to take care to avoid the huge road cats eyes every 20-30 ft the whole way, so easy to trip on one.

Running past the Ethembeni handicapped & blind children's school was very emotional, they were so happy, loving the whole day with runners going past, hundreds of hands out for high fives. We walked this bit, but having so much fun, ended up nearly sprinting through it, really lifted you, a few tears even.. But idiot - slow down!

 We started getting near to Inchanga and some real hills, temperature going up too, regular water over the Comrades provided cap to keep cool. The sign stating "Valley of Thousand Hills" didn't give much hope for an easy section, you could see all the runners like little ants ahead of you in the distance. Mentally this was hard, seeing the course going up twisting and turning on sections to come, the very rare runnable section. Right calf was holding up, but now left calf was sore, left knee too. We took a minute or so to get a massage of our legs and quads especially at a station. 

Through half way point at Drummond in 5h28, according to our pace band we were tight on 11 hours, maybe less than 5 minutes, but according to our Garmins av pace, comfortably on pace for 10:30 ish. Confused. We ran on. A Dutch runner chatted, explained he'd run a few marathons when arriving in South Africa - people just asked "Ah - you're training for Comrades then?"  Even having run other ultras, this made me feel a novice, a marathon meant nothing, just a little starter race? As the course got harder on the legs, yet vests around you showing runners who had completed this 10, 20 or more times. Very humbling.

We gave "Arthur's Seat" a good luck touch and said good morning sir..,  (plaque for five times winner, who used to stop there allegedly and smoke his pipe). Not long after, the wall of honour, previous winners and other peoples plaques.. The history in this race was all around you.

Somewhere around 50k amongst the never ending hills, the 11 hour pace group went past us. We knew were on target, what was going on? A few km later, someone told us there were multiple pacers, and some not sticking to target and were 10-20 minutes up. Some downhill started appearing, chance to pick time up. No need to panic, just stick to the task, making good time to Bothas village and beyond.

Camilla and I had been very steady paced, controlled, a good team, run ~35km together, and on track to finish. However, not together. Even drinking just coke, water, and the odd salt tab, was still too much for my stomach, toilet needed again. Really sad to say goodbye to Camilla and maybe even hope of a sub 11 hour finish. Toilet this time lovely & clean - Only problem after pouring so much water over my head, my shorts were almost impossible to pull up! Maybe stopped 1-2 minutes, not as bad as before. 

Moving again, but now what to eat or drink? Coke seemed out, different brand electrolyte tablets were maybe too strong and I didn't fancy the potatoes that were offered. Main thing I've learnt running ultras you need to drink or eat early to keep your energy levels up - or expect trouble. Ran for a few minutes, but starting to dip. To add to troubles, my left ear blocked up, couldn't hear properly... like being underwater. Held nose to try and equalise but sound faded in and out. Ran on water for a bit.

Downhills were coming fairly often now, and far from being pleasant, were nasty, steep in places and also cambered. Having had a left hip injury 4-5 years ago, this was hurting me, jarring that knee and calf. Quads I expected with the downhill, but rest of leg in a lot of pain.

Tried a little cream soda 50-100ml at next water station, also broke half a salt tablet into water bottle. Walking breaks getting longer, starting to dip.

About as down and as lonely as I've ever felt in a race, even with hundreds of spectators cheering on every step.

All Alone

Comrades race was started to remember those who fell in the First World War, so thought of my granddad who fought in it..could hear him saying "Pull yourself together". Also thought our cat Maddie who passed away and what a fighter she was.  Don't know how long this went on. Seemed hours, maybe minutes. Brushed away tears, gritted teeth.

On a short up/ down stretch,  25 km to go, maybe day dreaming a bit was swallowed up by a pace "bus" of 20-30 people as they came to a walk break. Chanting, one with a tambourine, looked & sounded amazing.. very hypnotic. Was so tempting to stay there, but the shock of being caught woke me up, had no idea what time they were doing either, 11 or even 12 hours? Pushed through 2-3 to the front and started running again, main aim get out of sight of this group.

Energy returning. Cream soda was starting to work and not causing any stomach problems. Felt tons better & legs fresher too - saw someone with a cold spray and blasted the knee and left quad. The comrades cap was almost useless, polyester didn't stay wet enough. Tied it to belt and put my preferred buff over head. Massive improvement, fabric stayed wet, so head & neck felt much cooler. 

After near melt down, spirits rising. Past two spectators and the woman asked "Foreign guy where are you from?" Shouted Liverpool and she gave me a huge hug, told her friend "See! Told you there would be a scouser at Comrades, we are tough". Was funny. The Green mile, a big sponsored music section came up,.. Hmm. Young cheerleaders dancing or spinning around in suspended hammocks. Not sure what the message was exactly. They all shouted carry on, but very tempting to stay.

Saw another runner, Belinda, who by her vest had run Comrades 17-18 times. With brain running at less than 100%, hey why not ask an expert, what time was she aiming for? Military precision - 20km to go, she had an 8 minute buffer on sub 11 hour finish, and only needed to keep to 8 minute km run / walk even with some tough hilly sections left. Really? My left knee was sore, but that seemed doable, pushed ahead.

Maybe 17-18k to go, heard a shout of "come on Harrogate" behind me, slowed down and recognised the club top of two friends.  Said hello to Rosalyn and asked did she know Wendy and Dr Mark? Amongst 18000 runners, what were the chances, Wendy was one of her best friends. Rosalyn was struggling too, Achilles tight, and on her watch couldn't work out the splits needed for sub 11 - or even if it was possible. I had my mojo back and brain working after the advice 20 minutes before. Convinced Rosalyn we had a decent buffer, were on target and just needed to keep this pace or better... both of us cheered up, we could do this!

The number of kilometres to go kept dropping. Some ups and slight hills, then the last big one of Cowies was done.  We made a great team the last 2 hours or so, getting water, looking after each other - my watch beeping the km time so we knew the buffer was getting even bigger. We now had a 14-15 minute buffer. Both of us though with sore legs, needing to pour water over sore quads and knees, we didn't need to push any harder and risk injury. We were safe? Asked Ros would you run the race next year? Hell No.

Finally we were in sight of the cricket ground. We took a walk, then slowly ran around the three sides. Belinda had said don't rush that lap of the ground, soak it up, enjoy that crowd and atmosphere. Honestly amazing.

In the final few steps before the end, spotted my wife.

Then Rosalyn and I were through the finish line, we hugged, perfect team meeting at just the right time for both of us - finished in 10hrs 46m.

 

Medal put around neck by Harv I'd met at the expo, shook my hand, he winked and said "Do you understand now why this race is special?" Definitely. Even a few hours before seemed an impossible task had been achieved. What a journey.

We watched the final hour, people getting near to the 12 hour cut off and you get nothing even if only by a second. The noise was incredible.

An amazing day - so much to take in mentally and physically, so many highs & lows. Comrades describes itself as the "Ultimate Human Race" and wow did it prove that for me. Every experience in life you learn from, but this was at a completely different level - the hardest race I've done by a very long way. The course literally chewed me up and spat me out, but at the same time, was so rewarding with fantastic support from everyone.

A simple 26 mile road marathon feels like baby steps now. Although approx double the distance Comrades felt like four times that by comparison... a huge emotional journey - it really is the greatest footrace in the World. Very humbling. The beautiful thing about the race and whole weekend though was the Comrades friendship and spirit that shone through all runners and spectators. It might be the tiniest little medal but it means far more than any other.

As for next year...