Comrades 2019

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Comments

  • Mc HillyMc Hilly ✭✭✭
    Thomas, see you at the Mugg and Bean shortly, and again in Durban next year!
  • Peter R - congratulations on your green number. Do you physically have that number now or do you have to come back next year to get it?

    Max - sorry to hear about the fall at the beginning. Hop the hip is ok and congrats on the back to back

    Marty - sounds like you had a great run and running to heart rate worked well for you. Your training obviously went really well as you were saying earlier in the year

    Slow Duck - Well done. How many is that now? Can't be far off the double green! Massive good luck for Western States

    Lowrez - sorry to hear about the DNF but I'm glad that you are finally going to get that foot sorted out if possible. It's been a difficult year for you and you've done amazingly well in spite of everything. Be proud of you run and hopefully you'll be back there next year. Fantastic distance that you covered though and what exactly were you wearing? Pics please.

    Thomas - Get yourself to Mugg and Bean and in the photo and we won't have to wait for a whole week for you to change your mind about next year :)


  • Peter RPeter R ✭✭✭
    SS - many thanks. They take you into the green number tent and present it you straight away. Mine was given to me by Alan Robb who I used to watch win as a teenager so it was extra special. 

    You normally have to wait for a year to get the green number shop though but Slowduck very kindly presented me with a shirt this morning (thanks so much SD)
  • Well done to everyone here, enjoy a few drinks, have a proper rest and the well deserved period of downtime.     

    I was trying to keep score while my son played cricket yesterday, missed Lowrez coming through Pollys and figured either something must have gone wrong or my app failed but you have such an indomitable spirit Sir that I know you're taking this in your stride but I'm still really sorry it didn't go better for you yesterday.  Seren - amazing resilience, well done for running that far under the circumstances and hope it means we'll see you back next year.  

    Thomas - I hope you made the Mugg and Bean,  it would be sacrilege to miss it after the effort you all put in!

    Good luck SD!
  • Dont worry - I did make it to the Mugg and Bean. Met some new people and old faces too. Thinking back I am not sure what I’d have done with my day had I not gone 😀

    Headed back to the hotel when it headed in the direction of a bar crawl :) don’t think I’m ready for that.
  • Fido2DogsFido2Dogs ✭✭✭
    McH I've never actually done the bus back - I did have a ticket in 2015 but a friend with a hire car came to the rescue. I am always in a pretty sorry state afterwards but I did at least hold everything in until I fell out onto the hostel doorstep so the car remained unscathed.
    I have some sympathy for both you and your brother Peter!
    SlowDuck - shows how hard it is though that the 100k WR holder comes *3rd*!! Ran a canny race 
  • Fido2DogsFido2Dogs ✭✭✭
    Glad to see the spirit of *Lowrez* survived!
  • This is unlikely but... if anyone has a 2016 (green-and-white, Nedbank) cap that they intend to throw out due to having too many (!)*, please do let me know - I lost mine at a race. (*No such thing as too many Comrades caps, I know)
  • Becca7Becca7 ✭✭✭
    I can’t believe you never experienced the buses, Fido. It’s quite an experience although much better than it used to be. We had the best bus driver and I think ours was the first bus to get back to Durban.

    I think I forgot to congratulate our newest Green Number. Well done Peter. 

    Debra, I already replied on Facebook. 

    Thomas, well done on making it to Mugg and Bean. Enjoy the rest of your time here. 

    Slow Duck, classy. 

    Max, sorry to hear of your fall and uncomfortable race. Well done on toughing it out. 

    Marty, 7 medals, getting close. 

    It hadn't occurred to me before. Becca7 has 7 Comrades medals. Hopefully more to come. 
  • Becca-at least 3 more
  • Fido2DogsFido2Dogs ✭✭✭
    Becca I went with a sports tour on my only other Up run and ended up having a bad enough time just being bussed back to the accommodation in the casino! Remember finally having a wee and it looked like I'd poured coca cola down the bog. Yikes.
  • Becca7Becca7 ✭✭✭
    Wow, Fido. A good job you were staying at PMB then. 
  • Becca: yah for your seven medals! Of course, you're going to want to do at least four more, so you can wear your green number in the race...
    I've never experienced the buses either - 2017 Terry drove us back to Durban (and the opposite problem to Fido: hit traffic and had to pull over on an exit ramp for two of us to pee as our bladders were bursting), and 2018 Terry and Aidan drove us up to PMB.
  • Well done Peter R - should make next year's run very special!   (Nice move SD)


  • 1owrez1owrez ✭✭✭

    The view back from the timing car as 1owrez leads Comrades!

  • 1owrez1owrez ✭✭✭

    Back at home and reading back through the drama - SS great commentary

    Hi @jellybean - great to see you at breakfast in The Hilton :) drop in and tell us how things went!

    Having had a short kip I'm currently rehydrating; peeling an orange with a G&T and cup of tea combo - sublime :)

  • Bike ItBike It ✭✭✭
    Thanks Everyone for the experience this year

    I set off at Bronze pace and kept it to about 60km done.  I'd been suffering stich the last 10km or so and basically run out of energy despite my eating and drinking well.  The last 27 or so km were lots of walking and some running on the downhills -  I realised I have to run at least some of the last 27km to avoid the final cutoff

    I don't want to make an excuse as I am delighted to finish after 3 hard years of physical pain and I am so happy I could finally make it to the start and even more delighted to finish.  I've been on the verge of quitting running for many times over the last few years.  It became much harder than ever and the uplift it always gave me faded. 

    I finally went to see my Doctor. 10 weeks ago I found out that my thyroid is non-functional or limited functionality which had given me symptoms of high fatigue, reduced cognitive powers and is maybe linked to the decline in my running etc.  The thyroid is central to hormone production related to metabolic processes.  The final run I made before I started medication had me going at 7:30 pace per kilometer for 2 hours in  a death-march trudge.

    Since I have started this medication things have massively improved in my everyday being as well as my running.  (This condition can also cause joint and muscle pain but I don't know if it is related to my hip issues over the last years).  I could complete Comrades, but stiches and the failure to find any energy to run could be related - I don't know.

    I received the accolades from many people since I got back to home and work.  It is only me who cares about the time performance.  Really I am very happy to finish and get any medal.  It's been a long and painful road to the start - the road from the start to the finish was a delight.
  • 1owrez1owrez ✭✭✭
    Bike It - you have done amazingly well to come through all that - the 80% mental strength versus the 20% physical needed to complete Comrades must be cast from steel in your brain - hoping you can manage your medication to allow you to run well for years to come.
  • 1owrez1owrez ✭✭✭

    F2D - did I hear that your training is gong well and that you are on target for marathon distance post August? A sub 4:50 marathon? :)

  • jkissanejkissane ✭✭✭
    edited June 2019
    Hope everyone had a good trip home or are enjoying an extended holiday! Nice to have met some of you at the dinner on Friday evening.
    The run went ok for me, I started slow & steady & kept going 'til I got over Polly Shortts and then sped up (relatively speaking!) to get the thing finished. 
    Anybody see anything strange with the 11 hour bus? They passed me on Fields Hill and then I overtook them again ~15 mins later. But I was trying really hard to keep an even effort so was happy to see on the results that my pace was between 6:44 to 6:55 per km for the whole thing. Does that mean the bus went out very hard indeed for the time they were trying to achieve? Would have thought that the first half of the Up run is not the place to go hard!
    Think I'll take a break next year & then maybe give the anniversary run a go in '21.
  • Bike ItBike It ✭✭✭
  • Bike ItBike It ✭✭✭
    I was passed by both the 10:30 bus and the 11:00 bus within 10 minutes. I must have been running backwards.
  • Slow DuckSlow Duck ✭✭✭
    I was passed by both 11 hour buses before Cowies...

    I was at Drummond in 5:30 (at the same time as the 11:30 bus) so I suspect all the buses were planning A chunky positive split...
  • 1owrez1owrez ✭✭✭

    I was ultimately overtaken by every bus out there, the 10s and 11s worried me going by so early but I wasn't keeping a proper eye on where, simply scared that those things were happening to me. The 11:30 was a tough one to let go because he was staying at The Hilton and he really wanted me to hang on in there for safety. I had a good chat with him at Mugg&Bean too. After that the 12 hour buses seemed to be well adrift - I assume they all made it this year?

    Bike It your 2019 medal appears to have been through some severe trauma, or is it just the light in the photo?  

  • DannirrDannirr ✭✭✭
    Well done everyone!   I had a fabulous day, although slower than planned (maybe that's why it was fabulous).  Definitely the best Comrades for me from an enjoyment viewpoint.

    Running Rodent and I zig zagged past each other several times, and then from about 4k until the end decided to finish together, which was great.

    S timed run/walk is the answer for me :)
  • Fido2DogsFido2Dogs ✭✭✭
    Lowrez my training is not going particularly well but I have to say that seeing Comrades this year has inspired me to buckle down and try to shed some of the 20ish lbs I've put on in the last 4 years. We shall see how long this lasts. 
    Yes I am signed up for Abingdon this year (also part of the flab fighting effort) and am doing it with my OH who is a marathon novice! Target is just meeting the Abo cutoff (4:59:59 or bust).
    If I'm a lot fitter by autumn who knows. But I have a lot of frail elderly relatives so in general I am not planning stuff involving long haul flights or taking up a lot of free time right now... Also not sure the crumbling knee cartilage would appreciate it!!
    All that said - never say never!!
  • 1owrez1owrez ✭✭✭

    Hmm, that's not "too flat" is it? I see some repetition in that profile, laps? What a nice climb to the finish? This is reminding me of Tasmania and a 5:02!


    F2D just checking you are aware that the Comrades qualification limit dropped to 4h50m this year? Who knows what they might do this next qualifying period?

    Good luck with the training for you and OH, hope the demands on your time and knee allow a successful campaign that keeps you thinking about SA :)

  • Bike ItBike It ✭✭✭
    edited June 2019
    1owrez said:

    Bike It your 2019 medal appears to have been through some severe trauma, or is it just the light in the photo?  

    I assure you it is a genuine 100% copper Vic Clapham medal.  Just the runner went through the trauma and the medal is unscathed.  Just a trick of the light
  • Mc HillyMc Hilly ✭✭✭
    Lowrez - Abingdon is pancake flat! (Fast course, but not exciting - there are 2 laps of the lower in your map) The biggest climb is an underpass near the end! I’ve just entered Chester (6th Oct) as hopefully my qualifier - which is fairly flat with just a couple of undulations to give a bit of interest
  • 1owrez1owrez ✭✭✭

    Glad the medal is good Bike It - I would be asking for another if it wasn't struck correctly.

    Aha McH - looking at the scale now I see, just a few undulating feet!

    Ooo, you are coming to Chester? I will get out my banner for you, will have to modify the last name painted, but it already begins with an "M" and I can black out the down-stroke of the "a"... Last year when Camilla ran past she shouted "Why aren't you running this" and I shouted back "Not long enough!" :)

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