The world’s greatest ultramarathon is again around the corner. The Comrades Marathon takes place on
July 1, and this year it is a 89km down run from Pietermaritzburg to Durban.
As part of the roadshow at LVCC on March 12, Lindsey Parry, the official comrades coach, walked the runners through the course. For someone who is not much of a runner listening in, the team made the marathon sound completely do-able.
Parry warned against the dangers of overtraining and much was made of the terrible heat and wind conditions at last year’s marathon. Runners were warned to adjust their race plans to any conditions they may encounter. “If you have a good March and April, you will have a good Comrades,” he assured them.
Brad Brown, who runs the marathon for Race 4 Charity, encouraged people to get involved. To qualify, a runner must raise
R5 000 for one of six AmaBeadiBeadi charities they can choose from. It also gives them the opportunity to improve their seeding batches as they will start in the Comrades Charity (CC) batch at the front.
A thousand entries are reserved for
the organisation.
Entries have already closed for the marathon, but Ian Langston of the roadshow team, noted that about 5 000 entrants does not even start the race due to entering so early in advance. These entries can be transferred to another runner if they contact the Comrades organisation.
This has to be done before May 6, which is also the deadline for all runners to ensure the organisation has their qualifying times, club names and licence numbers. It is also the date by which underprivileged runners who can’t afford board and lodging in Pietermartizburg, must contact the organisation to reserve one of the 900 available sleeping spaces.
At the end of the talk, a lucky draw saw Ashley Betteridge and Esmarie Jacobs each win a new pair of New Balance running shoes. The official clothing and footwear sponsor has a first-ever comrades shoe out in the black and yellow of the marathon complete with an image of the route inside.
Langston emphasised runners need to have their champion chips attached to their running shoes during the marathon to be counted and considered a finisher. For more information visit www.comrades.com and www.championchip.co.za