Comrades Marathon
My great friend Derick Marcisz never ceases to remind me that his lifetime marathon personal best (p.b.) is exactly one second faster than mine. In March 1983 I ran 2 hours 17 minutes and 18 seconds at the Buffs Marathon in East London. A few months earlier Derick recorded 2 hours 17 minutes and 17 seconds at the old Transvaal Marathon Championships. He has reminded me of that one second for over 40 years.
Alan Robb
I’m not a superstitious person. I’ll walk under a ladder, and I’ll stroke a black cat that crosses my path. I hardly notice Friday 13th and I would happily sit in seat in seat 13 on a plane if there was one. I eat the chicken on a wishbone, and I always forget to make a wish.
But I would never dare forget to greet Arthur Newton as I run past Arthur’s seat in the Comrades marathon.
Bruce Fordyce Comrades After Party
I can still hear the late Don Oliver’s calming words delivered in his charming cockney accent.
“Don’t you worry Comrades novices you’re going to be alright. You’ve got Don Oliver’s pacing chart and his wise words to guide you home.”
How I miss him. For nearly 40 years Don, and fellow Rocky Road Runners coach Dennis “tombstones” Tabakin advised novices at monthly training panel discussions. I was often an invited guest speaker at these evening talks, and I was privileged to watch these two experts help hundreds of novices take their first tentative steps on their Comrades journeys. Then months later Don and Dennis would help them complete those journeys. The Rocky Novice panel talks were so popular that every talk was jam-packed, and even experienced runners and Comrades veterans attended.
Comrades Marathon 2023
Casting my mind back over nearly half a century of running I realise that I have very few regrets, very few moments where I think “if only”
Yes “if only I had run a little faster and been a little bolder in the 1980 Comrades marathon, I might have won the race”
But Alan Robb deserved to win that year, and I was a very young runner, and was delighted with my second-place finish that morning. And, besides, a year later I won.
Comrades 2022 training
The niggle in my lower left leg began to irritate me two or three days before the Two Oceans half marathon that I was hoping to run on Easter Saturday. At first, I chose to ignore it, but the pain persisted and when I attempted a gentle three kilometre jog the day before the race the pain became sharper and more intense.
At that point my sensible, wise running angel sat on my shoulder and Read more “DO WHAT I SAY NOT WHAT I DO”
Comrades 2022 training
Now that the Two Oceans dust has settled, and the postmortems of the great race have been completed it is time to take stock and make plans for the Comrades marathon in August.
When the Comrades marathon association first announced that the race would be run on August 28th there were howls of protest from some quarters. (We all understand that change often makes people uncomfortable. Try changing a runner’s familiar training route if you want to see an adverse reaction to change) But the rationale for the August date was more than adequately explained Read more “IT’S TIME – MAY IS THE NEW MARCH”
Comrades 2022 training
Now that the dust has settled and Comrades runners all over the World are coming to terms with the idea of an August/early spring date for our beloved race let’s look at how some things are going to change, how much about Comrades will never quite be the same again and how some aspects of Comrades will always remain the same.
The most exciting news of course, is that we are going to have a Comrades marathon in which to participate, to enjoy watching, and to savour. After two years in the lockdown wilderness our beloved Comrades is back. I have a feeling that the 2022 Comrades marathon Read more “MARCH IS THE NEW JANUARY”