Harriers athletes ready to up the ante at Comrades
The first Comrades Marathon was held in 1921 and was a down run from Pietermaritzburg to Durban.
Thirty-seven athletes from the Benoni Harriers Club will be pounding the road from early Sunday morning in the 2019 Comrades Marathon ‘up’ run between Durban and Pietermaritzburg.
Harriers held a send-off breakfast at the Lakes Hotel & Conference Centre for the group of athletes who will be donning the colours of the famous 106-year-old running club in what is considered to be one of the toughest ultra-marathons.
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Among the five Comrades veterans in their ranks, is 59-year-old Benonian James Reid, who will put his body’s strength and endurance to the test for the 29th time when he heads off from Durban City Hall early on Sunday morning.
For Reid, it all started 30 years ago as an attempt to keep fit in what he calls the ‘good old smoking days’.
“I ran a marathon, qualified and haven’t stopped doing Comrades since,” recalled Reid.
He has since run in successive Comrades, bar one, where he got just outside the stadium and passed out.
Reid concedes with a wry smile that he prefers the ‘down’ run.
“It’s a lot more painful, but definitely easier. So I hope my 30th will be a down run. I have always said over the years there is only one hill to worry about in Comrades, that’s Fields Hill – up and down.”
He is one of the few members who has run every Comrades Marathon in the colours of Benoni Harriers.
Should the Comrades bug bite again next year, then he will certainly achieve his goal.
In fact, the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) has confirmed that there will be two consecutive ‘down runs’ in 2020 and 2021.
The reason given by the organisers is that the body will be celebrating its centenary year in 2021.
Reid has mostly bronze medals in his collection and admitted that, being just months short of becoming a senior citizen, he has abandoned his quest to try and nail down a silver medal and has a modest target of crossing the finish line at the Scottsville Race Course in a sub-11 hour time.
The 11-hour mark was the original cut-off time, but was recently extended to 12 hours, so that would give Reid more than an hour to spare.
“I have just finished in the last couple of years.
“It’s pretty simple really – if you don’t do your homework, you pay for it on the day.”
In wishing the club’s runners well, Harriers chairperson Ashwin Jivan went to great lengths to highlight the importance of family values in their club environment.
Harriers is a small running club, but Jivan believes its members are a close-knit band of brothers and sisters.
“At a normal running club you are simply a member and pay your subs.
“Here, at Harriers, our philosophy is whatever a runner can give to our club, we will give back to them,” said Jivan.
“We pride ourselves on the fact that whoever enters Comrades, should complete it.
“For me, it’s vital that those who have entered must make sure they complete the accomplishment.
“Comrades, I believe, one doesn’t enter just to go halfway.”
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