Journey to the Comrades begins
Ballito Comrades runner and record holder, Barry Holland, will be running his 49th Comrades this year, to extend his all-time record before the big half century in 2024.
With under a hundred days until the Comrades Marathon, North Coast runners in full training mode have taken on numerous qualifying events.
February is historically a popular month for Comrades qualification in the lead up to the big race, which this year will see runners complete the ‘down’ run from Maritzburg to Durban on June 11.
Runners can qualify between September and May by finishing a registered race of marathon distance (42.2km) or longer. At typical marathon distance, the cut off time is four hours and 50 minutes.
At least 50 locals have already qualified, although this is by no means an exhaustive list.
One of the qualifiers is Ballito’s Comrades record holder, Barry Holland, who completed both the Hillcrest Marathon (February 12) and Best of the Best Marathon (February 26) in the requisite time.
He will be running for Comrades number 49 this year, to extend his all-time record before the big half century in 2024.
Across the two aforementioned marathons and Capital City Marathon in Pietermaritzburg last weekend, 47 Dolphin Coast Striders alone ran qualifying times.
Mhlengi Khowane has so far delivered the best Dolphins’ time, a blistering 2:44.26 at the Hillcrest Marathon.
Ballito’s Nicole von Metzinger who races for Adventure Obstacle Training (AOT) qualified for her back-to-back Comrades attempt at last weekend’s Best of the Best race.
The marathon route saw runners start and finish at King’s Park, by way of a relatively flat course through Durban North.
“We did two 21km loops, which people usually don’t like, but I think everyone was grateful to get a flat qualifier – and the good weather helped too,” she said.
Von Metzinger is also part of the AOT team which will take on the ‘Goggins Challenge’ this weekend, which sees the athletes run four miles (6.4km), every four hours for 48 hours!
“We are trying to raise money for the obstacle course racing world championships later this year. To add to the difficulty, we will also do four obstacles during every four hours,” she said.
There are 23 team members undertaking the crazy challenge in La Lucia, from Friday morning until Sunday afternoon.
To donate, search for ‘Get us to OCR Worlds’ on backabuddy.
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