The Comrades Marathon 2010
Duncan Band
The best bit of advice I received before running my first ever Comrades Marathon was from Dboy, a friend who said “There is nowhere to hide on Comrades, so get your mind right and don’t worry about anything else. Comrades is +/- a 90 km fun run. Go into the race with no expectations of high reward but rather with the aim of enjoying the race and trying to pick up as many chicks as possible. What will be will be.”I was running with a best friend, James Hacker, and we decided our goal would be to do exactly as Dboy suggested, we would go out there to have fun and enjoy the day!
Official entries for the 2010 race stood at 23,568 of which 6,873 were novices. 14,596 tired runners eventually finishedwithin the twelve hour cut-off on the day.
I came off a good base, having done a half ironman in January and a full Ironmanjustfive weeks before Comrades. My final KM tally for the year (Jan to Comrades) stood at 840km. This was less than the recommended 1000km, but with the cross training I had done in preparation for the Ironman I felt confident that I had done enough. The idea of being out there for 11 hours was also not too difficult a thing to grasp. I definitely do not say this lightly, it is still a very scary notion, but I had been out there for that long at Ironman and the day whizzed by! As far as pain went I was expecting to be in a whole heap of it. More than IM, a lot more! The question “what is harder, Comrades or IM?” is something many people have contemplated,and for me, having now done both I would answer that IM is harder to train for, but Comrades is more difficult on the day.
I made sure that I had a lot to eat the day before the race, and managed to get a great nights sleep. Breakfast was at 3am and James and I managed to make it to our starting pen at 5,giving us a full 30 minutes to stretch and soak up the vibe. It was cold, but to be honest I did not really notice it. Waiting in the pen was a very surreal experience. There was a lot of nervous chatter, the odd laugh and cough, and yet still it seemed eerily silent in the dark. Itwas as if everyone there was awed to silence thinking about what they were going to attempt.
So when the loud speakers rang out with the South African National Anthem and Shoshaloza, 20,000 voices vigorously joined in, voicing a release to their nerves and emotions.Thereafterthe traditional Comrades song,Chariots Of Fire, played and everyone around me had tears in their eyes. The MaxTrimbourncock-crowed, the gun went, and Comrades 2010 began!
Well sort of, it took us 4 minutes to get over the start line and 14 minutes to do the first KM! The forced slow start, in hindsight, was really a blessing. It eased us into the race and reminded us of the length of day we had ahead of us.I was very surprised at how little you actually walk on Comrades. James and I had prepared a timing chart so that we didn’t miss out on an 11 hour bronze, and we made sure that we stayed a good ten minutes ahead this chart initially.
I started to feel Ironman in the legs after about 30km, and this worried me a lot, especially thinking that I had more than 50km to go. The knees and ankles felt tired and sore, and I really struggled from 30km to half way.But it is through a bad patch like this that you realise why so many athletes keep returning to this amazing race.You realise that you are not running a race against the people next to you, instead you are running with them in a team! They are your team mates, there to encourage you to get to the finish. Many a new friend was made during the course of the day, whether it was someone helping me through my bad batch or visa versa.
James and I got to halfway, in five hours,andcrested Botha’s Hill and ran into Hillcrest. This was my favourite part of the race, the roads resembled aPyrenees section of the Tour De France with thick bands ofspectators lining the road.
I made sure that I took water and Energade sachets at every drinks table. I only started drinking coke with about 30km to go. My plan was to use what was available on course. I did not want to rely on seconds or take much myself. So besides the oranges, potatoes, bananas, biscuits and chocolates that I ate from the sideline offering, I had three GU’s and two Rehydrates. This worked perfectly for most of the race. I did feel a little flat for the last 20, but whether that was the 8 hours of running that preceded it, or the lack of decent nutrition on the run I am not sure. Next time I will try to keep a couple more GU’s for those last 20. Ahhhhh!and a friend of Jamo’s had tea for us with about 15 to go…. Tea?! I cannot describe how amazingly that went down!
The crowd support was incredible! But I suppose that goes without saying, after all it is the biggest ultra marathon in the world. I did get the feeling that this year was extra special. Fellow runners with a few more Comrades under their belt also say that 2010 was their best year so far. I think that the combination of world cup fever and the usual Comrades hype, transcended into something truly special. I was proudly South African on that day!
We happily finished the race in just over 10 hours with no major issues, running an even split on the halves.
There was an elderly couple that I passed near the end with a tray of oranges, and Bar-One quarters. I stopped to see if they minded if I “stole” from the runners they were supporting. Their reply was…”you are the runner we are supporting!” They were not there for any one specific runner or club, they were not seconding anyone, they had come out to do their small bit to help ME get through. This is the feeling that I felt from everyone there that day
The Comrades is probably the most special thing I have done. It was exceptionally emotional.From managing to run the whole way with Jamo and crossing that finish line together, arm in arm… From Chariots Of Fire sung in PMB after a Shoshaloza and a SA National Anthem rendition by thousands of runners… To putting crumpled rand notes into the hands of a blind and disabled school boy standing outside his Entembwi School…
It was definitely a day full of my tears.