Comrades 2022...A perfect day (nearly)
Most people who run with me know my thoughts about Comrades, and why my last one was in 2017. As a dedicated trail runner, I love solitude and my own company, so running with masses of people is not my idea of fun.
Nevertheless, I had agreed to run Comrades with one of my coachees thus finding myself in PMB on Sunday at the start.
The fences drop and we all pressed together like sardines in a net!
Anthem, Chariots of fire, Shoshaloza, Cock crow, and we are off, avoiding blankets, jerseys, bags, and other miscellaneous objects on the road. There were more tripping hazards than on a trail in the Berg!
Let me not bore you with a kilometer-by-kilometer commentary, but the first section was full of runners, narrow roads, and not many spectators.
Ironically the first half of the DOWN RUN is actually an UP RUN and the going is pretty tough.
slowly but surely we made our way along the route, walking up the big climbs and maintaining a good pace on the flats and downs.
We met old running friends and made some new ones along the way. We also now know why Sydney Striders have a Cheetah in their logo and not a Kangaroo!!!
My coachee, Lisa Selwood, ran like a superstar, although she was getting tired, and I took heart from that as I didnt know how I was going to cope with the distance as I had just run a 100 miles 2 weeks before.
Kilometer after kilometer passed, and soon we saw Durban and knew the end was near. Well, that's when it started getting really tough! The road up to Moses Mabhida Stadium is like the Never Ending Story, just went on and on!
After what felt like days we reached the barriers and the crowds and the stadium. I grabbed Lisa's hand and we ran into the stadium hand in hand for a finishing time of 9h09min!
We might have missed a Bill Rowan, but the other positives outweigh that by a ton. Top of that list is Lisa's new down run PB by a massive 57Min!!
Once again all these achievements would not be possible without the help and support of Christine Walsh and Marion Selwood and Kim Selwood, who all sacrificed their Sunday to stand in the sun and support us in all our demands!
Thanks guys, you made the day a success for us!!
Lisa, next year you are going to receive your green number and a Bill Rowan medal, as sure as God made little green apples!!!
Although we missed the BR by 9 min, it still was a Perfect day!
