Comrades 2019

1owrez

Like Travis I sometimes feel like I'm being held up by invisible men, especially towards the end of a marathon

https://youtu.be/PXatLOWjr-k?t=93

Then when time is running out, you wanna stay alive and make that sub 4:50

https://youtu.be/VK3Q4SLVkAU?t=42

1owrez

Comrades 2019 Qualification
27Aug Qualification Starts
16Sep Goodwood (M) justanothrrnr-Q3:54-PenD
16Sep Berlin (M) Running Rodent-Q4:44-PenH
24Sep Emilia-Romagna, Italy (IM) Peter R-Q3:48-PenB-Going-for-Green
07Oct Chester (M) seren nos-Q4:28-PenG, marty74-Q3:25-PenC
07Oct Bremen (M) Becca7-Q4:28-PenG
07Oct Chicago (M) Mc Hilly-Q4:40-PenH, Slow Duck-Q3:57-PenD(or E)-Going-for-Double-Yellow
14Oct Leicester (M) Max Mladenovic 2
21Oct Amsterdam (M) Mac3
20Oct Langdale (M) Peter R
27Oct Beachy Head (M) Debra Bourne, marty74
28Oct Marine Corps (M) jkissane
03Nov Thames Meander (M) Southern Snail
04Nov Soweto Marathon (M) Bike It
18Nov Mega Challenge (M) TCP
23Dec Portsmouth Coastal Waterside (M) justanothrrnr, seren nos
06Jan Xiamen (M) 1owrez
17Feb Seville (M) Mac3
25Feb 100 Marathon Club AGM (M) TCP
03Mar Tokyo (M) Becca7
17Mar Utrecht (M) Mac3
13Apr TinT Fortitude (M) TCP
14Apr Boston UK (M) Terry48, Debra Bourne, 1owrez
14Apr TinT Gauntlet (M) TCP
15Apr Boston USA (M)
15Apr TinT Dauntless (M) TCP
16Apr TinT Resolute (M) TCP
17Apr TinT Perseverance (M) TCP
18Apr TinT Adversity (M) TCP
19Apr TinT Intrepid (M) TCP
20Apr TinT Indomitable (M) TCP
21Apr TinT Unbreakable (M) TCP
22Apr TinT Invincible (M) TCP
28Apr London (M) Becca7, 1owrez
02May Qualification and Race4Charity (PenCC) Closes
09Jun Comrades

Accommodation
Belaire Terry48, Becca7, Mc Hilly, Max Mladenovic 2
Hilton 1owrez, Dannirr
Blue Waters jkissane

Flights
1owrez BA/VA MAN-LHR-JNB-DUR ArrJNB7th06:30Dep08:55ArrDUR10:00
Terry48 AF

1owrez

This "new board" ain't like the old one as we know. The character limit on a post seems fixed, on the old one you could edit the post and add as much more as you wanted. Not so here. So when I make things colourful it takes a chunk of text to do that either side of the bit you want coloured. That additional text doesn't display but it is being counted in the total of the post. Our list of events is now of sufficient vastness that if I add my colour text in, it won't post it. So we are black and white for now until we find another route... I think I'll pop over to Vanilla and see if they will speak to me about it

Peter R

Another London Reject
Some great running going on here, and I too was watching with interest yesterday to see if any major changes.  Looks like we are all ok which is good.
I am in Budapest for a couple of weeks on business so came a couple of days early and registered for Budapest marathon here (you can just turn up on the day and enter which is unusual for a big city marathon).  Clocked a 3.37, so happy with that.  Langdales in a couple of weeks which will be slog!
I am also doing Portsmouth, might have to get the Comrades hat out by the looks of things.

Debra Bourne

Must check when Portsmouth is and if I can fit it in - although I think they have dropped the Ultra option, which is a shame. (Or am I getting it confused with another one?)

1owrez

23rd Dec Debra, its in t'list, give it a click

Debra Bourne

Lowrez, thanks for pointing that out for me. Ah, no places - check again 1st November.

1owrez

What are they doing to me now? Just tried posting a revised list with Peter doing Portsmouth and its not gone on and I have this message

Southern Snail

4h 50  I'm really not sure I can do that.
You'd have thought they'd make that a bit more obvious on their website. Not all of us are on Facebook!!

I'm also really not sure I'm going to run either the Thames Meander or Comrades but for the moment I'm definitely still pretending I am.

1owrez

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA RELEASE: Launch of 2019 Comrades Marathon

‘Sizonqoba – Together We Triumph’ is the chosen campaign slogan for the 2019 Comrades Marathon to be hosted in June next year. The unifying campaign theme was unveiled by the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) in Johannesburg today (Thursday, 11 October 2018).

The annual launch of the 94th Comrades Marathon attracted the nation’s top media, road-running dignitaries, sponsors, stakeholders, ultra-runners, sporting personalities and 2018 Comrades Marathon Champs, Bongmusa Mthembu and Ann Ashworth.

CMA Chairperson, Cheryl Winn said, “It is with a great sense of pleasure that we unveil our campaign for next year’s race, ‘Sizonqoba – Together We Triumph’ which sums up the unifying nature of the Comrades Marathon. It is a significant and pertinent campaign slogan that highlights all what the Comrades Marathon epitomizes.”

Winn adds, “We are certain that our athletes will not just embrace our 2019 campaign slogan but resonate with everything that it stands for. Nothing compares to the camaraderie, fellowship, togetherness and solidarity in road-running as that of The Ultimate Human Race.”

The 94th Comrades Marathon will be an Up Run on Sunday, 9 June 2019. The race starts at the Durban City Hall at 05h30 and ends 12 hours later at the Scottsville Race Course, covering a distance of approximately 87km. This will be the 48th Up Run in Comrades history.

Exciting developments for the 2019 race are the introduction of two new medals and increased prize money for the Top 7 finishers. The CMA has confirmed that the women’s equivalent of the Wally Hayward Medal (which is awarded to those runners who finish outside the gold medals, but under 6 hours i.e. Position 11 to sub 6 hours) will now be a part of the race going forward.

This medal will be named the Isavel Roche-Kelly Medal and will be awarded to those Women finishing in Position 11 to sub 7 hours 30 minutes (ie outside the gold medals, but under 7½ hours).

Roche-Kelly won both the 1980 and 1981 editions of The Ultimate Human Race and was the first woman to break the 7½-hour barrier in 1980, finishing her Comrades race in 7 hours and 18 minutes.  She went on to finish in 6 hours and 44 minutes the following year. Sadly she passed away in a cycling accident in her native Northern Ireland at the age of only 24, just 3 years later.

The Robert Mtshali Medal will be the new addition to the Comrades Medal Collection and will be awarded to those runners finishing in 9 hours to sub-10 hours. Mtshali was the first unofficial Black runner in the 1935 Comrades Marathon, finishing his race in 9 hours and 30 minutes. This medal will be made of titanium.

Prize money totaling R4.3 million is up for grabs in the 2019 event with R500-thousand for both the Male and Female Winners, R250-thousand to the runners-up and R180-thousand for Third Position. This is an increase of nearly 13% over the 2018 amounts.

The opening date for entries is Friday, 19 October 2018. The entry period closes on 10 December 2018 or as soon as the entry cap of 25,000 has been reached. Prospective entrants are encouraged to get their entries in early to avoid disappointment, considering that entries sold out in three weeks for the 2018 race.

Entry fees for the 2019 Comrades Marathon are as follows:

• South African                                                          : R 600.00
• Foreign Athletes – Africa/ SADC countries     : R1500.00
• Foreign Athletes – International                        : R3800.00

There will be no ‘early bird’ entry fee going forward. Entry is free to all runners who have completed the Comrades Marathon 25 times or more.

Runners can enter as follows:

• online via the Comrades Marathon website: www.comrades.com;
• by posting their completed entry form with proof of payment to the CMA Office: P.O. Box 100621, Scottsville, 3209;
• by handing in their completed entry form together with payment at Comrades House, 18 Connaught Road, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg. 

CMA Race Director, Rowyn James says, ‘We have exciting plans in place for next year’s Up Run. With entries opening on 19 October, we urge our athletes to enter early and claim their spot on the starting line of the world’s most epic ultra-marathon.’

James adds, “Qualifying for the 2019 Comrades Marathon is applicable as of 26 August 2018 till 2 May 2019. The qualifying criteria for next year’s Comrades Marathon will be to complete a standard 42.2km marathon in under 4 hours and 50 minutes, or a 56km ultra-marathon in under 6 hours and 45 minutes.”

The Substitution Process will open on 1 March and close on 15 April 2019, allowing athletes an extra two weeks for potential substitutions.

Six charities will benefit from the Comrades Marathon’s Amabeadibeadi charity drive for 2019. They are Childhood Cancer Foundation SA (CHOC), Community Chest of Pietermaritzburg & Durban, Hillcrest Aids Centre Trust, Hospice South Africa, Wildlands Conservation Trust and World Vision SA.

The Race4Charity fundraising platform requires that runners raise a minimum of R6000 for the Amabeadibeadi charity of their choice, in order to qualify for the charity seeding batch on the start line. 500 entries have been reserved for Race4Charity runners. For more details on the Race4Charity initiative, click through to www.comrades.com/charities/race-4-charity

Winn has called on all runners to support the charitable fundraising initiatives of the CMA, saying, “We urge all Comrades entrants to select the Official Charity closest to their heart and commit to running for a cause greater than themselves. As the CMA, we have placed great focus on benefitting the communities in which we operate and continuously add value to the sport of athletics.”

Winn also presented 2018 Comrades Women’s Champ, Ann Ashworth, with her coveted Comrades Winners Jacket, a day earlier than planned, due to Ann’s unavailability to receive it at the Old Mutual Spirit of Comrades Awards gala in Durban tomorrow evening, owing to a prior commitment.

CMA Vice Chairperson, Sifiso Nzuza said, ‘We anticipate that the introduction of two new medals, the Isavel Roche-Kelly Medal and the Robert Mtshali Medal will inject an added impetus to the 2019 Comrades Marathon in the form of increased intensity of competition in the women’s race and an added and achievable incentive for bronze medal runners to also pick up their pace and run faster. The 2019 Comrades Marathon Up Run will once again unite ultra-runners from South Africa and the world, come race day. We welcome all of our runners, supporters and stakeholders to share in the camaraderie, joy and exhilaration of Comrades race day on Sunday, 9 June 2019.’

***ENDS***

Statement issued by the Comrades Marathon Association’s Media Officer, Delaine Cools on Thursday, 11 October 2018

Becca7

You’re a double Comrades finisher Snail. Of course you can do sub 4:50. 

Southern Snail

Thanks Becca - that does at least make me feel I should try but I did a half 4 weeks ago and have only run once since. I seem to have lost my mojo somewhere

Debra Bourne

Southern Snail, you can do it! 

That new medal for 9-10 hours is really going to encourage me to get faster before my next Comrades! But that will have to wait until 2020 now.

seren nos

I read somewhere last week that from pens A to F there is a 97% success rate of finishing, from  pen g there is only a 60% success rate and pen H a 50% success rate.. I imagine the reduction in 10 mins is to try and increase the number of finishers from the back pen...  especially as it takes 10 minutes to cross the line... trying to find out what the new pen times will be

Running Rodent

Debra - I have a feeling they only do the ultra option at Portsmouth every other year. 

Lowrez - If updating the list further doesn’t cause your head to explode, can you add me to the Hilton - booked yesterday.

Terry48

SS, I'm sure you can do it.  The shorter limit will motivate you even more and you've proved your ability.  There is still plenty of time for stepping up training.

Debra Bourne

RR: thanks for that info. I'd be more interested in ultra - may or may not go for the straight marathon. 

1owrez

Short colour test

This should be a red paragraph.

But does this block of text revert back to black automatically.

1owrez

Southern Snail said:

Reigate Half Marathon for me yesterday. 2:11 which I was chuffed with as haven't done any fast stuff. Nasty little Comrades type hill at the end

SS you are definitely a sub 4:50 marathoner - do you want to come to Manchester on 7th April? I propose a group of us descend on this very achievable course and we carry each other to qualification

1owrez

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Test tomato?

Test black?

1owrez

My goldfish has blue eyes

1owrez

Goodwood (M) justanothrrnr-Q3:54-PenD

1owrez

Comrades 2019 Qualification
27Aug Qualification Starts
16Sep Goodwood (M) justanothrrnr-Q3:54-PenD
16Sep Berlin (M) Running Rodent-Q4:44-PenH
24Sep Emilia-Romagna, Italy (IM) Peter R-Q3:48-PenB-Going-for-Green
07Oct Chester (M) seren nos-Q4:28-PenG, marty74-Q3:25-PenC
07Oct Bremen (M) Becca7-Q4:28-PenG
07Oct Chicago (M) Mc Hilly-Q4:40-PenH, Slow Duck-Q3:57-PenD(or E)-Going-for-Double-Yellow
14Oct Leicester (M) Max Mladenovic 2
21Oct Amsterdam (M) Mac3
20Oct Langdale (M) Peter R
27Oct Beachy Head (M) Debra Bourne, marty74
28Oct Marine Corps (M) jkissane
03Nov Thames Meander (M) Southern Snail
04Nov Soweto Marathon (M) Bike It
18Nov Mega Challenge (M) TCP
23Dec Portsmouth Coastal Waterside (M) justanothrrnr, seren nos, Peter R
06Jan Xiamen (M) 1owrez
17Feb Seville (M) Mac3
25Feb 100 Marathon Club AGM (M) TCP
03Mar Tokyo (M) Becca7
17Mar Utrecht (M) Mac3
13Apr TinT Fortitude (M) TCP
14Apr Boston UK (M) Terry48, Debra Bourne, 1owrez
14Apr TinT Gauntlet (M) TCP
15Apr Boston USA (M)
15Apr TinT Dauntless (M) TCP
16Apr TinT Resolute (M) TCP
17Apr TinT Perseverance (M) TCP
18Apr TinT Adversity (M) TCP
19Apr TinT Intrepid (M) TCP
20Apr TinT Indomitable (M) TCP
21Apr TinT Unbreakable (M) TCP
22Apr TinT Invincible (M) TCP
28Apr London (M) Becca7, 1owrez
02May Qualification and Race4Charity (PenCC) Closes
09Jun Comrades

Accommodation
Belaire Terry48, Becca7, Mc Hilly, Max Mladenovic 2
Hilton 1owrez, Dannirr, Running Rodent
Blue Waters jkissane

Flights
1owrez BA/VA MAN-LHR-JNB-DUR ArrJNB7th06:30Dep08:55ArrDUR10:00
Terry48 AF

1owrez

Ha!

1owrez

@Terry48 did you say Boston Lincs was flat too? How pancakey? There are also some 400m track marathons about aren't there?

1owrez

Ooo yeah, that's flat

1owrez

Yep, flat:-

https://youtu.be/j05LfaLcnjQ?t=236

Terry48

Lowrez, it's flatter than Manchester or anywhere else I know. Debra can also confirm that.

Debra Bourne

Boston UK: definitely, one might say definitively flat. Even less total ascent than Dymchurch - which is along the sea wall! (The Dymchurch promenade has a slight incline at one end).

Bike It