I love Running

🤓 What is the Comrades Marathon?

The Comrades Marathon is an ultramarathon of approximately 89 kilometres (55 miles) which is ran annually in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa between the cities of Durban and Pietermaritzburg. It is the world's largest and oldest ultramarathon race. The direction of the race alternates each year between the "up" run (87 km) starting from Durban and the "down" run (now 90.184 km) starting from Pietermaritzburg.

Since 2019 runners over the age of 20 qualify when they are able to complete an officially recognised marathon (42.2 km) in under 4:50 (5 hours before 2019).During the event an athlete must also reach five cut-off points in specified times to complete the race. The spirit of the Comrades Marathon is said to be embodied by attributes of comaraderie, selflessness, dedication, perseverance, and ubuntu.

My First Comrades Marathon Experience 🥉

My first Comrades Marathon experience was nothing short of amazing and nerve-wracking. I spent the first 6 months of 2023 undergoing extensive training, doctor visits and somewhat intermittent strict diets. At times I would wake up at 3:00 AM to go to intense training of running hills repeats to ensure that I train my legs for the Durban hill. Other times I would force myself to run in the evening to train my body to endure running in the heat as Durban is notoriously known for being hot and humid.

Some major challenges I encountered included being ill to the point where I had to go through a colonoscopy for a gastro infection, developing an Achilles injury during training & missing out on running the Two Oceans Ultra Marathon due to the passing of my nephew in April

However, my goal was clear and that was to run the Comrades Marathon & get over the finish time within the cut-off time. I also ensured that I ran the minimum mileage of 850KM which gave me a confidence boost of readiness. In the week of the race, I ensured that I carb-load, I stayed indoors for most of the time to avoid injuries and binge-watched Comrade Marathon preparation videos from Coach Parry and other vloggers on Youtube. Doing this helped me a lot to mentally prepare for the race.

On race day, the race atmosphere was spectacular and my excitement got the best of me (in a good way 😊). I finished my first Comrades Marathon in 10 hours 46 minutes which is a great finish time for a novice like me and this landed me a bronze medal 🥉