For anyone looking to buy an SA sim card for affordable calls, it's advisable to do that at the airport on arrival. Otherwise, buying at other retail outlets elsewhere can be much more hassle clearing all the statutory security hurdles.
09:00 Monday Mugg & Bean Breakfast
Just turn up from 09:00 onwards; nothing overly formal it’s a café with a
wonderful menu with a heap of UKish Comrades runners descending upon it wearing
their UK T-Shirts or the Comrades goody bag one or indeed anything they damn
well please, group photo around 11:00 then go for a stroll on the beach front;
it’ll be good for your legs, even splash your toes in the Indian Ocean. Bruce’s
after party at 12:30 is easily walkable or just hang at Mugg & Bean etc…
caashford, Debra Bourne, Becca7, lowrez, matt brooker
12:30 Monday Bruce Fordyce After Party
California Dreaming Restaurant, 150 O. R Tambo Parade, Dairy Beach, Durban,
12:30 till 17:00 R550 per person. A celebratory conclusion of the race relaxing
with athletes, family, friends and personalities sharing race highlights trials
and tribulations. Live entertainment, buffet lunch, cash bar
caashford
Yesterday's run was a tough day out, but a great last long run in prep for comrades. Some spectacular views along the way.
One of the unexpectedly tough parts were the constant stopping for gates and styles. Without exaggeration there were over 100 gates/ styles with about 40% needing climbing over. Good practice at getting running again having stopped.
Finished in 6hr 28, pretty happy with, but a bit of timely reality check for Comrades. Ran at the pace I had been thinking about for comrades and although I kept running the whole way (except on the hills) and kept in good spirits the whole time, there was a considerable fade in terms of pace and energy. I think a more conservative approach to comrades will be needed as it's a long way further still!
Anyway, it's tapir time! We'll have to find an appropriate picture of the long-nosed fools for the tread
Having survived the high mileage training I picked up a calf twinge on an easy run yesterday. Going to give it a couple of days rest, I refuse to get injured now
09:00 Monday Mugg & Bean Breakfast
Just turn up from 09:00 onwards; nothing overly formal it’s a café with a
wonderful menu with a heap of UKish Comrades runners descending upon it wearing
their UK T-Shirts or the Comrades goody bag one or indeed anything they damn
well please, group photo around 11:00 then go for a stroll on the beach front;
it’ll be good for your legs, even splash your toes in the Indian Ocean. Bruce’s
after party at 12:30 is easily walkable or just hang at Mugg & Bean etc…
caashford, Debra Bourne, Becca7, lowrez, matt brooker
12:30 Monday Bruce Fordyce After Party
California Dreaming Restaurant, 150 O. R Tambo Parade, Dairy Beach, Durban,
12:30 till 17:00 R550 per person. A celebratory conclusion of the race relaxing
with athletes, family, friends and personalities sharing race highlights trials
and tribulations. Live entertainment, buffet lunch, cash bar
caashford
Have just had final entry verification from Comrades and see that they still have me down in pen G. I have emailed them 3 times about the change and every time they come back and say they will change it but still haven't and now say thats what will be printed on the race number. Have emailed again and sent them their own confirmation email for receipt of the charity money. Don't know what else to do.
Halstead Marathon for me. My first time at this event but I can see why Slow Duck and others use this as a Comrades prep race. Fairly undulating throughout although not as warm as in previous years, apparently. Quite a Comrades reunion fest.
Southern Snail: sympathies re. the pen confusion. Hope it can be sorted.
Well done Becca.
For me it was the SVN Viking Challenge, 6 hour version today (they were running a 100-mile, a 24-hour challenge and bot Saturday and Sunday 6-hour challenges). I stopped after 5 laps (33 miles or so) at 5:24. Could have gone for another lap and psychologically reaching 40 miles would have been satisfying, but if I'd injured myself running that last lap I would have been kicking myself. Skies stayed grey but I did get warm occasionally. A couple of inclines but no -real- hills.
Lovely run at Halstead plodding around chatting to friends. A nice hot day on an undulating course - perfect Comrades training!
Lowrez - please could you add my additional details: flying out on BA, attending the Ambassadors evening do on Thursday, parkrun Saturday and Mugg & Bean breakfast on Monday.
I'm late to add my details Lowrez, but I'm with Lufthansa via Frankfurt but that gets me to Durban late morning on the Thursday. I'm a little away from the action with staying in Uhmlanga and I shall do the Park Run there ( a mere 500 or so last year). Planning on attending the after party as I don't fly to Cape Town until late afternoon. I have some days R&R in the wine region :-)
Glad to see the long runs going well. I'm having to supplement the hills via the treadmill in Flatland (NL).
Mr Z - here's another motivational tune for you! Curtis Mayfield - "Move on up", and keep on wishing. Remember your dream is your only scheme, so keep on pushing........
Southern Snail: you do have the option to reply to the "Final Entry Data Verification ROA and International entrants" email by clicking the link to say that "I disagree" about the details.
I've noticed my final details give me the same runner number as last year (last year's number is written on the envelope the Champion Chip came in, together with the ChampionChip code). Wonder whether that's normal after a DNS or merely an unusual coincidence.
Tapirs love to be scritched along the bottom edge of the back of the jaw, and on their bellies.
Debra, re your number. If they still stick to their previous system, they keep your number for you if you've entered at any time in the last 3 years - I don't think DNS matters. Unless anything has changed since I checked long ago, they only reallocate the number after 3 consecutive years of 'non use'. My number 3695 was in 1978 the highest number as a freshly issued one - It was a smaller race back then! Not like numbers today which are very well into tens of thousands.
That's why I've only ever run with my #3695. I first ran with it in 1978, had a number of 2 or 3 year gaps (never more) until it eventually became my permanent 'green' number after the 10th medal - they never re-issue a green number. So, there should be many runners in our group who should also have their same number as before, if they've run within the previous three years
Lowrez - I noticed my name wasn't there either. I think I went into the charity page and picked out pink drive and paid the money. I didn't set up a profile or fundraising page as I just donated the money myself. I got an immediate email reply from comrades saying the transaction had been processed and money taken from my account. perhaps I should try and call them. I've obviously done it all the wrong way round
SS - I'm pretty sure that's the reason - I've had automated e-mails advising of my pen.C allocation. What you have is "just" a donation receipt like any non-runner would get who donates - that doesn't key you into the Race4Charity process. You will have to persuade them somehow to acknowledge your Pen.C allocation. Good job you have the receipt because that proves the cash has gone into the system. A call sounds best as we don't know how close they are to crunching all this through their systems and printing the running numbers.
SS - they reprint numbers at the Expo, so that's not an issue. Persuading them to put you in C now is unlikely I'm sorry to say. It's worth a try - now by calling them and in person at the Expo - they are very helpful at the International desk at registration. There was an email a few days ago saying the C allocation for charity was full.
Mango-Chillie: Southern Sun is a hotel chain, not a hotel name. Which of their hotels are you at? I'm guessing it's the Elangeni?
For those doing parkrun: usually a meetup at Mugg and Bean after parkrun too. I'm pretty sure RR and I will be doing that if others care to join, that will be even better.
Comrades just posted a wonderful video video on Facebook. It's 12 minutes long and really captures the race (and me at 9:58).
Mugg and Bean after parkrun on Saturday sounds good - sit down, rest, eat cake... Last year Bruce in one of his talks on the Saturday was saying that he didn't know why people were at the Expo and walking around it on the Saturday - they should be resting, off their feet as much as possible.
Comments
Belaire Suites - Terry48, Running Rodent, Odeon1085, caashford, matt brooker, Bike It, Debra Bourne, Mr Zuvai (till Fri), Dannirr
Hilton - seren nos, lambkin, lowrez
City Lodge - Becca7, Southern Snail, marty74, Slow Duck, Matt..
Flights
Air France - Terry48, lowrez(arr.Fri13:15)
Emirates - Becca7, Mr Zuvai, Debra Bourne(arr.Thu16:45.depMon), Running Rodent, Southern Snail, caashford(arr.Thu16:25.depTue)
South African - marty74
07:30 Friday Bus Tour starring the legendary - Running Rodent, Dannirr, marty74
08:45 Friday Bus Tour - seren nos+Mr sn, Mr Zuvai, Southern Snail
07:30 Saturday Bus Tour - lowrez
08:00 Saturday North Beach
Debra Bourne, caashford, Southern Snail+Mr SS, Becca7, Matt.., Dannirr, seren nos+Mr sn, Running Rodent, marty74+friend, matt brooker, Terry48
05:30 Sunday Comrades
PenA - WarrenK78, caashford, Odeon1085
PenB - Matt.., Mac3, marty74, Peter R
PenC - becca7, lowrez, Southern Snail, seren nos
PenD - Debra Bourne
PenG - Mango-Chillie, Slow Duck, Mr Zuvai, Running Rodent
09:00 Monday Mugg & Bean Breakfast
Just turn up from 09:00 onwards; nothing overly formal it’s a café with a wonderful menu with a heap of UKish Comrades runners descending upon it wearing their UK T-Shirts or the Comrades goody bag one or indeed anything they damn well please, group photo around 11:00 then go for a stroll on the beach front; it’ll be good for your legs, even splash your toes in the Indian Ocean. Bruce’s after party at 12:30 is easily walkable or just hang at Mugg & Bean etc…
caashford, Debra Bourne, Becca7, lowrez, matt brooker
12:30 Monday Bruce Fordyce After Party
California Dreaming Restaurant, 150 O. R Tambo Parade, Dairy Beach, Durban, 12:30 till 17:00 R550 per person. A celebratory conclusion of the race relaxing with athletes, family, friends and personalities sharing race highlights trials and tribulations. Live entertainment, buffet lunch, cash bar
caashford
Yesterday's run was a tough day out, but a great last long run in prep for comrades. Some spectacular views along the way.
One of the unexpectedly tough parts were the constant stopping for gates and styles. Without exaggeration there were over 100 gates/ styles with about 40% needing climbing over. Good practice at getting running again having stopped.
Finished in 6hr 28, pretty happy with, but a bit of timely reality check for Comrades. Ran at the pace I had been thinking about for comrades and although I kept running the whole way (except on the hills) and kept in good spirits the whole time, there was a considerable fade in terms of pace and energy. I think a more conservative approach to comrades will be needed as it's a long way further still!
Anyway, it's tapir time! We'll have to find an appropriate picture of the long-nosed fools for the tread
Hope everyone is having a great weekend
When you next do an update I qualified for pen C at Manchester and I will be parkrunning on the Sat
Having survived the high mileage training I picked up a calf twinge on an easy run yesterday. Going to give it a couple of days rest, I refuse to get injured now
Well done Mr.Z, good hours on your feet and good strategizing about the big day as a result.
Take it easy RR you definitely need to tapir!
Belaire Suites - Terry48, Running Rodent, Odeon1085, caashford, matt brooker, Bike It, Debra Bourne, Mr Zuvai (till Fri), Dannirr
Hilton - seren nos, lambkin, lowrez
City Lodge - Becca7, Southern Snail, marty74, Slow Duck, Matt..
Flights
Air France - Terry48, lowrez(arr.Fri13:15)
Emirates - Becca7, Mr Zuvai, Debra Bourne(arr.Thu16:45.depMon), Running Rodent, Southern Snail, caashford(arr.Thu16:25.depTue)
South African - marty74
07:30 Friday Bus Tour starring the legendary - Running Rodent, Dannirr, marty74
08:45 Friday Bus Tour - seren nos+Mr sn, Mr Zuvai, Southern Snail
07:30 Saturday Bus Tour - lowrez
08:00 Saturday North Beach
Debra Bourne, caashford, Southern Snail+Mr SS, Becca7, Matt.., Dannirr, seren nos+Mr sn, Running Rodent, marty74+friend, matt brooker, Terry48, Mr Zuvai
05:30 Sunday Comrades
PenA - WarrenK78, caashford, Odeon1085
PenB - Matt.., Mac3, marty74, Peter R
PenC - becca7, lowrez, Southern Snail, seren nos, Mr Zuvai
PenD - Debra Bourne
PenG - Mango-Chillie, Slow Duck, Running Rodent
09:00 Monday Mugg & Bean Breakfast
Just turn up from 09:00 onwards; nothing overly formal it’s a café with a wonderful menu with a heap of UKish Comrades runners descending upon it wearing their UK T-Shirts or the Comrades goody bag one or indeed anything they damn well please, group photo around 11:00 then go for a stroll on the beach front; it’ll be good for your legs, even splash your toes in the Indian Ocean. Bruce’s after party at 12:30 is easily walkable or just hang at Mugg & Bean etc…
caashford, Debra Bourne, Becca7, lowrez, matt brooker
12:30 Monday Bruce Fordyce After Party
California Dreaming Restaurant, 150 O. R Tambo Parade, Dairy Beach, Durban, 12:30 till 17:00 R550 per person. A celebratory conclusion of the race relaxing with athletes, family, friends and personalities sharing race highlights trials and tribulations. Live entertainment, buffet lunch, cash bar
caashford
I too will be at Mugg and Bean
Have just had final entry verification from Comrades and see that they still have me down in pen G. I have emailed them 3 times about the change and every time they come back and say they will change it but still haven't and now say thats what will be printed on the race number. Have emailed again and sent them their own confirmation email for receipt of the charity money. Don't know what else to do.
Halstead Marathon for me. My first time at this event but I can see why Slow Duck and others use this as a Comrades prep race. Fairly undulating throughout although not as warm as in previous years, apparently. Quite a Comrades reunion fest.
Southern Snail: sympathies re. the pen confusion. Hope it can be sorted.
Well done Becca.
For me it was the SVN Viking Challenge, 6 hour version today (they were running a 100-mile, a 24-hour challenge and bot Saturday and Sunday 6-hour challenges). I stopped after 5 laps (33 miles or so) at 5:24. Could have gone for another lap and psychologically reaching 40 miles would have been satisfying, but if I'd injured myself running that last lap I would have been kicking myself. Skies stayed grey but I did get warm occasionally. A couple of inclines but no -real- hills.
Lowrez - please could you add my additional details: flying out on BA, attending the Ambassadors evening do on Thursday, parkrun Saturday and Mugg & Bean breakfast on Monday.
here's my offering!
Glad to see the long runs going well. I'm having to supplement the hills via the treadmill in Flatland (NL).
Mr Z - here's another motivational tune for you! Curtis Mayfield - "Move on up", and keep on wishing. Remember your dream is your only scheme, so keep on pushing........
I've noticed my final details give me the same runner number as last year (last year's number is written on the envelope the Champion Chip came in, together with the ChampionChip code). Wonder whether that's normal after a DNS or merely an unusual coincidence.
Tapirs love to be scritched along the bottom edge of the back of the jaw, and on their bellies.
That's why I've only ever run with my #3695. I first ran with it in 1978, had a number of 2 or 3 year gaps (never more) until it eventually became my permanent 'green' number after the 10th medal - they never re-issue a green number. So, there should be many runners in our group who should also have their same number as before, if they've run within the previous three years
there are loads of little nuances to this event that keep it so special
I have my details to add to your wonderful list:
Hotel : Southern Sun
Flight BA departing 31st May
Tour : Friday 08:45
I'll be doing the parkrun on Sat
I'm in Pen D now as I've managed a sub-4 marathon.
cheers
perhaps I should try and call them. I've obviously done it all the wrong way round
debra - did press the disagree button and emailed
Mango-Chillie: Southern Sun is a hotel chain, not a hotel name. Which of their hotels are you at? I'm guessing it's the Elangeni?
For those doing parkrun: usually a meetup at Mugg and Bean after parkrun too. I'm pretty sure RR and I will be doing that if others care to join, that will be even better.
Comrades just posted a wonderful video video on Facebook. It's 12 minutes long and really captures the race (and me at 9:58).
Mugg and Bean after parkrun on Saturday sounds good - sit down, rest, eat cake... Last year Bruce in one of his talks on the Saturday was saying that he didn't know why people were at the Expo and walking around it on the Saturday - they should be resting, off their feet as much as possible.