Why Comrades??

I was always going to do Comrades sometime. I must have been 4 or 5 when my brother told me that we were waking up really early to watch the cock crow, see the fast crazy guys try get on TV for a few minutes of fame and then see Bruce Fordyce slowly smash everyone to take the win as predicted. That memory planted a seed then, and while many other trees have grown the 89km one is finally in the sunlight. I’ve always tried to watch it and while interest ebbed and flowed for a bit with many other worthy pursuits it remained in firmly the (ever expanding) bucketlist.

In retrospect I’m casually surprised I haven’t done it by now, but it’s not like I’ve been on the couch. Came close to starting down the path before; even qualified for it in 2009 in a misguided idea that it would be the first leg of the Freedom Challenge Extreme triathlon (I ended up doing something much sillier, but that is a story for another day). Unogwaja almost got me roped in but it was just too much time at the time, everytime. My wife Victoria and I soft committed to doing it together in 2020 (If Caroline can do it!), the year we would both turn 40. We never followed through, and that would have been a non-story because of “you know what” anyway.

I had by now run out of good excuses, but was definitely prompted by the incredible documentary DOWN. Think of Chasing the Sun, but for running (it’s the same production crew) try watch it. South Africa is many things, but definitely excels in the doing crazy properly and then dressing it up as normal. Nowhere else on the planet will you see 16 000+ people line up in the dark, sing together and run further than two standard marathons for a chunk of metal. I don’t normally go for something mainstream, but this is a story I wanted to be a part of and add my own name to the script. I like to think I’m a glass half full type of South African, and I’d go as far to say that Comrades looks like the most integrated anything we have going for us. All races, genders, LSM, ages, hometowns thrown together to be united by a course and equal for a day (if you stretch it to counting the last finisher to the first as being an Orwellian equal). The field covers a range of athletic abilities (how I yearn to trade a bit of my wise experience for my younger running body) but anyone who can cover the course is a superhuman in my book.

Just incase I needed any further encouragement, it turns out I married into some Comrades history that I am definitely claiming as if I’ve earned it (my own mother in law has "only" finished four). Victoria’s family are mainly from KZN, so the race runs deep on both sides. Her aunt (our host in Durbs) has done a casual 24, one of them pregnant enough that it would have melted social media these days. The press even wrote about her here. An uncle on the other side was pretty quick in his day. Gold medal sort of quick, try running sub6 in the 70s with bata tekkies, oros and no strava? No spice, uncle Tim once finished this race where the only people ahead of him were an Alan R, a Bruce F and a guy called Papillon Ball.

I finished the 900km Adventure Racing World Champs feeling in good shape so figured this would be a fun challenge for 2024. The entry was easy, didn’t have a running club or even done a road race for a decade but you pays your money and you gets your chance to write your name in the book. I did it on the day it opened and only told my wife, not entirely convinced yet I was actually going to do it.

DONATE HERE – R4k and I do Slave Route 21km in Jeans on the 26th of May