Reluctant Runner

The things I learned doing the 2009 Comrades Marathon:

• This race doesn’t care how many training kilometres you have done, you either have a good day or a bad one – all you can do is make sure you get over that finish line.
• You have to (and I’m not joking here guys) HAVE TO eat at every single table!!  Keeping yourself from falling below that critical blood sugar level is an ongoing process (I had bouts of nausea all the time) which will last the entire race and which you need to address as they occur.
• The human spirit is stronger than muscle and bone and any kind of mental preparation.  If someone can finish the Comrades Marathon with a broken foot, a prosthetic limb, as a blind runner or someone suffering from a chronic diseases like Cerebral Palsy or Muscular Dystrophy – you can be assured that as a healthy, fit runner no matter how much pain you are in, there is something stronger at work that if you allow it, will carry you through to the end.
• Physical fitness makes up 40% of this race, mental fitness makes up 40%, pure determination makes up 10% and a sense of humour 10% – Don’t fool yourself into thinking that being fit is the answer; you will fail if you do…

Standing in Pietermaritzburg at the start, I was feeling very calm and rather Zen like while the energy from the 12 825 runners around me was crackling with anticipation.  I was a little concerned that I was carrying more equipment than what I had planned on (3 skin temperature sensors which were stuck on with plaster, the 800g computer which was going to record my skin and core temperature throughout the race, a GPS and a heart rate monitor with accompanying watch), looking like a bit of a lab experiment.

As the gun went off and the crowd surged forward I remember distinctly thinking – I just want to make the most of today – and for the most part, I think I did.

The first 20km of the race was fine, I was running with a long-time friend Craig who was doing it for the first time and whose mom was running too (Lynda is 60 and was running with a broken foot, how is that for crazy).  I was a little concerned when 10 minutes into the race we could just not keep up with our mothers who surged off and left us to find our own pace with which to run.  Luckily we were caught by the sub-eleven hour bus because I had no idea about pace or the actual route.

Half-way came and so did Lynda suffering from very sore feet and not really loving the race.  Half-way also saw the first man crossing the finish line (in 5:23) which doesn’t do much for the confidence levels…

30km outside of Durban I felt a tap on my shoulder and found Ryan, my running charity partner just behind me, he’d decided to join the bus too, much to my delight because I didn’t actually think I’d see him until the end.

As we reached the lip of the notorious Fields Hill, 69km into the race with such a steep downhill and horrid camber that many runners have seen the end of their race at the bottom, you could hear a collective sigh come up from the group – Craig let out an audible moan since he’d been cramping on every downhill from around the half-way mark.  Stuart the pace-setter (or bus driver) gave us a very stern talking to as we started down – “Pass me here and you will not finish this race” he promised, luckily I had no intention of going solo at this stage, I’d already confessed to Craig that I would be sticking with this bus to the end and would propose marriage to Stuart when we finished…

With 10km to go, knowing that it would be the longest 10km ever, I had news from a fellow club runner that my mom had been throwing up and had fallen behind us.  Feeling pangs of guilt for not seeing her on the side of the road I resigned myself to the fact that my mom was a machine and would be ok with or without me going back for her, so I kept on going because really in a race like this, the most important thing you need to tell yourself is – “Just keep putting one foot in front of the other and you will eventually get there!”

Hitting Durban city centre and a flat road to the end, Craig re-assumed his position next to me with Ryan just off to one side, as we made our way through the screaming spectators who were lining the streets.  Entering Kingsmead to a crowd that was going crazy as our sub-eleven hour bus was brought in 9 minutes ahead of schedule, Craig and I ran hand in hand over the finish line, with grins from ear to ear.

Craig and I at the first stop with my dad

Re-fuelling at about 15km to go

A friend of mine sent me the media pack for the race on Sunday and it was packed with little titbits of information which I want to share, and of course comment on.

Total runners for this Comrades Marathon:
12 826

Gender breakdown:
Male – 10 539
Female – 2 287
Insights:  Before 1975, woman weren’t allowed to participate. That is only 17.8% of the field are woman, still not really adequate I feel – come on girls man up!

The average age:
Men – 41 years
Women – 40 years
Insights:  Seems I have a long running career ahead of me

The oldest male runner is 78 (Please Lord let me at least be ahead of him)
The oldest female runner is 68 (I will probably be behind her)

There is a runner running his 44th comrades this year and another running his 41st
Insights:  Just bloody crazy

There are 52 Physio’s, 199 Doctors and 57 Clergymen running – lets hope I need none of them on Sunday!

There will be 48 water tables along the way providing bananas, cooked potatoes, chocolates, oranges and biscuits – most of which has all been hovered up by the time I come chugging past.

There will be 150 jars of Vaseline used (my dad will have should I need it, I’m not so keen on dipping into a shared jar of vaseline) and 5.4 tons of bananas (WTF I never saw any primates last year, they must have been ahead of me)

Jokes aside – I have 2 days, 16 hours and 35 minutes until the start of the race and we are sending 17 kids to school so far!!!!

Insights: Woo Hooo

Mmmmmm....