South Africa 2013 Part III: The Grand Finale ...COMRADES!!!

A Running Freak Still Dreaming

After reading my last 2 posts, I hope you understand the true meaning of my trip to South Africa. By no means do I aim to lessen or minimize the work myself and crew members accomplished there with Part III of my report. I wasn't sure I should include something so frivolous...

...but HELLO!!!...

it's COMRADES!!!

Here's the scene: I'm already in South Africa, I just happen to finish work in the village, I'm only 2 hours away from the start line.

Now what do you really expect this running girl to do?

Heck yes I registered and got my butt over to Durban in a hurry to place my feet on that start line!!!!

Comrades  Marathon is one of the premiere ultra-marathons in the world, The Ultimate Human Race. Don't let the title "Marathon" fool you, it is actually 55-ish miles! It was created to become a living memorial to the spirit of the soldiers of the Great War 1914-1918. The first Comrades Marathon took place on May 24, 1921, starting outside the City Hall in Pietermaritzburg with 34 runners. It has continued since then every year with the exception of the war years 1941-1945, with the direction alternating each year between Pietermaritzburg and Durban, the so called up and down runs. Currently the race draws thousands of runners from all over the world, with elites packing the starting line to compete for the coveted title.

Lucky for me this was an UP year (said sarcastically).

After spending the previous 10 days traveling, working in the village, and being on my feet from sunup to sundown, I was tired. In fact, exhausted. I didn't care though, this was a huge opportunity to participate in an incredible event... sleep can always wait.

5:00AM and I place my feet at the starting line among a world of people. As I waited for the cannon to signal the start, I had a chill run through my body as I realized I was literally among a world of people. Almost 19,000 people from over 70 countries were about to take on this challenge together.

Scene of the start. See me? (I'm way in the back)

I was tired, didn't eat breakfast, but was happy as I could be running through the streets of Durban on my way to Pietermaritzburg. This wasn't a "race" for me, I didn't care about my time, placement, average minutes per mile. No, none of that mattered. I was craving the experience and only wanted to finish before the cutoff. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the cutoff... 12 hours and you're done. 12:00:01 and you're blocked from crossing the finish line, officials literally turn their backs on runners trying to cross. It's that harsh.

100% of the course is on road. It was amazing to run through so many towns and villages. I traveled through  suburbs, rural towns, communities of various races, and topped hills that showcased the beauty of the South African land. Beautiful only begins to describe the scenery.

Comrades is a huge event for the country, being televised from start to finish... that's 12 hours of live coverage! The streets were lined with locals taking part in the festival. They were grilling, drinking, and offering up food to runners. The Running of the Bulls flashed through my mind as I ran past so many spectators filling the streets. It was one big party throughout the entire 55 miles!

I'd like to say it was the best run of my life, but actually it was tougher than tough for me that day. We experienced record heat and humidity along with a really gusty headwind for over half the race. And did I mention it was an UP year? I seriously don't remember ever running on anything but a hill! It was a tough course, but combined with my exhaustion, lack of breakfast, and weather... I was doing everything I could to hang on. I wanted to quit more times than I can remember... but who the heck quits running in South Africa at Comrades?!!! I had to dig deep and take out the mental and emotional portions of myself at that moment. I had to make forward progress at all times. I kept pushing forward, breaking things down into their simplest form. So simple that I was counting my steps to make sure my feet were still moving forward at one point. (I later learned that almost 5,000 racers either dropped out or didn't make the cutoff time to cross the finish line. It was a tough day for many runners.)

Then I could smell the barn... I was almost home! The finish line was only 10k away and I found a surge of energy thinking about getting to that line before cutoff and maybe even earning the bronze medal given to those that finish sub-11hours. With my speed increasing, the kindness of strangers giving me salt to avoid cramps (one spectator even ran with me a couple of blocks to help me during a leg cramp!), and with the thrill of the day's experience... I made it to the finish line in 10:56 to earn the bronze medal.

Pushing through to the finish line.

The Comrades Marathon is absolutely one of the most incredible experiences of my running career. It is the most well supported, organized, highly attended, and spectator friendly races I have ever seen or even heard about. The views throughout the course are incredible and the surge of energy throughout the runners and crowd are unmatched. I highly recommend joining the party if you get the chance, it will be one you will never forget.

One more thing... there is a special medal for completing back-to-back Up and Down years. I think I'll need to go back next year to earn it!