Comrades 2020

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  • With regards to Ironman, it's huge here especially the half Ironman distance, I've never done one but have more friends who are triathletes than runners.
    Also regarding people asking was your marathon the same distance as London. There are many races in the middle East described as marathons but vary from 5k to 21k. The new Riyadh marathon this year interested me but it's a choice of 4k, 8k or 21k but all called the Riyadh marathon!! The Sheikh Zayed marathon is a 5k.
  • Snail: oh yes, I got that when I said I'd done Manchester - but even when I said I'd done 5 50-mile races during 2013 I sometimes got the response (in a dismissive tone of voice) "but you haven't run the marathon."
    Dubai, that's fascinating - it would appear 'marathon' is being used to denote 'running race'. Of course, we all know one very famous 'Marathon' that's not 26.2 miles...
  • Getafix I am just creeping into road cycling but if I remember, I do wear my tutu (it's fluo green and does seem to get me given a wider berth!). Now that running doesn't get me as far (particularly when I get the bus home after half way as on Sunday when I was .just.pooped) it's a way of still seeing a lot. #busticketofSHAME
  • Thanks for the kind words and Becca - :D  if there was a can-can in me I wouldn't be a broken man!   

    Debra  - great ticksheet idea,  I'll make sure introduce that once I get my physio's program on Tuesday.  

    I hope its a good running weekend for everyone - have fun!
  • Well, whadouya know.  We now have our first park run in Atlanta - I'll have to try it out when they commence Oct 8.

    In the interim, I spent a few days in SA last week and ran a few times in Joburg.  Elevation about killed me.  But what was strange was seeing so many runners about in Comrades shirts.  Obviously.  At home in Atlanta, if I see a Comrades shirt (and I have only once), I'd probably chase after them for a chat.  If I did that in Joburg, I'd probably be mistaken for a mugger.  A very slow mugger at that.
  • At least i can now put to bed my qualifier for next year now. Hull marathon for me today in 3.32.01. Not the best of courses but job done :). It's definitely getting harder....

    Hope everyone else going well.
  • Well done marty74, that's a great time to have under your belt.
    No running by me today, but I did wander down the road to support someone in the Tooting Self Transcendence 24 Hour Race. He had to stop at about 22 hours 30 (after over 400 laps and 100 miles), but got out again to do two more laps before the time was up so didn't get a DNF. Robert Payne the first finisher managed over 156 miles, and was still doing sub 2 minute laps just before the end. Anyone tempted for next year?
  • Marty, well done!
    Dannirr, that's funny about the Comrades shirts - as you say, obvious when you think about it. I like my Comrades hats and wear them a lot while running, and it's got me into some nice conversations.
  • Fantastic Marty!
    I feel a bit of a fraud these days as clearly it's wildly unlikely I'll ever qualify again, but we did do 20 miles run/walk today so that's our grossly inadequate marathon prep done. I have a lot of stuff to deal with ATM and because of that there's some question as to whether we'll be able to go out and do Munich but the exercise helps with the stress so may as well keep the options open.
  • Well done Marty

    Thats me qualified as well, 3.51 in the Italy IM gives me a C seeding I think. Was a tough day; as they always are. 
  • Peter, well done you! 
  • Mac3Mac3 ✭✭✭
    Well done Marty and Peter, good to get an early qualification time.
  • Peter - well done on the Ironman and the qualification

  • Peter, Wow. An amazing time given your days activities. Top work.

    And thanks everyone. Look forward to seeing the rest of you follow suit in due course :)
  • Congrats Peter and Marty, great performances.
  • Well done Mac, Marty and Peter, great running! F2D, you are doing great too, keep active! JAR fine, fine news on your progress; for running in circles I am in awe of Julie Finn, I work with her husband. She smashed it at Equinox 24 at the weekend; first woman ever to win the event and she broke the women's record clocking 19 10km laps in 24 hours. Her result is all the more remarkable as she was "running blind" for the first 16 laps, she didn't want, and wasn't given, any updates on her status/progress until the organisers insisted she was advised she was in striking distance of the win but the field was closing in on her!
  • lowrez, yes that's amazing running. I must try one of those events sometime.
  • Maybe we should enter a team one year, or all go solo, lots of options.
  • Lowrez, it's with sadness that I must ask you to take me off the 'marathon qualifier list' for Berlin on Sunday 😥. I've stalled this request for too long in the hope of a health miracle!  Although my heart aneurysm is slightly less severe than I was previously told and tachycardia issues now successfully treated, it's something else that knocked out my training!

    A quads injury about 4 months ago led to a series of re-injuries which then developed into a knee problem. I suspect a meniscus /cartilage tear and have been referred by my GP for a 23 October MRI. Although I had an arthroscopy repair 15 years ago I hope there is still scope for further repair. In the meantime I'll persevere with enough walking and cycling to maintain at least some minimal fitness. I'm currently reduced to walk/slow jog park runs. A member of my running club, a qualified physio, has very kindly provided free examination/assessment and exercise advice. She feels that there is at least some chance that with good exercise discipline to boost relevant muscle strength, I might get back to running without any other intervention. The MRI should reveal all. Thankfully, in all other respects I feel very well.

    Bottom line - Berlin is out. So sad, after how lucky it was to get a place. It's not defer-able or transferable or I would be offering it to one of the able runners in this group.

    It seems that most of this group are running well and ticking of qualifiers already! I hope that the few with injuries recover rapidly and well. (with special good wishes for JAR with his extended timeout for recovery).
  • Sorry to hear that you can't make the Berlin start line, Terry.  Great to have a friendly physio to advise and I hope you keep up the exercises.

    A very impressive run from your colleague's wife, lowrez.  My club always sends a couple of teams to Equinox and some do it as solo but it's not one for me as I like sleep more than running.
  • Terry, really sorry to hear about the injuries.  Fingers crossed that things turn out ok.

    Thanks re Ironman, was also interesting to read the debate that took place on here regarding ultras and questions about IM.  I started them both about the same time, so I guess that makes me doubly insane?  Legs are settling down this week, so looking forward to shaking them out tomorrow with a recovery run, as I seem to have entered the Langdales Marathon (again) on Oct 19th.  Anyone else on here doing that?


  • Sorry to hear that Terry.  Anyone else running in Berlin this weekend? Best of luck if so. Will be there myself but liking the feeling of zero pressure :smile: Since Comrades this year, I've covered one marathon & two halves so figure I'll definitely finish it but as for the time....

    Btw this was the announcement from parkrun about the launch in the Netherlands is on their blog but I can't link it here.

    Looks like a friend of mine is going to be the ED in one of the locations, small world or what!

  • Terry, sympathies! Good luck for getting the knee sorted/strengthened.
    Good luck to anyone who is running Berlin
    I have a packed weekend ahead, with the Tolkien Challenge down at Samphire Hoe on Saturday followed by my stint as Race Director at my club's Switchback 5 (5-mile XC/multi-terrain) on Sunday. Presently really, really hoping the weather forecast improves.
  • That's rubbish news Terry, hope you get better soon.
  • [pats the bench] join the runners-in-spirit, Terry! I would like to utter a slight word of encouragement in that I managed to get up to walk/running 20 miles from  "walk/slow jog park runs" as you say. I take it the drs told you not to try to power-walk Berlin !
    Whether I get to Munich I don't know though as there's other stuff kicking off that I have no control over and so basically we may or may not go and it will be what it will be. It was nice to get to do my old long-run route again anyway! After four years ;)
  • Sorry to hear your news Terry, I hope the MRI doesn't show anything serious and you can get back to running before too long. It sounds like you've been through this before as well. So frustrating. Fido2Dogs hope things are looking better for you being able to do Munich.
    Well done Peter on your IM and qualifier, and good luck to everyone who's got qualifiers coming up.
    lowrez, I'd never heard of the Equinox 24 before, but it looks a lot more appealing than several hundred laps of Tooting Athletics Track.  190K though, and looking at her splits she didn't even stop between laps, and she went further than a lot of the teams. Yet another dominant performance by a woman at an endurance event in a year that has already had a stack of them. I was also following the tracker for Sarah Thomas' four way Channel swim the other weekend - 54 hours non-stop, hard to imagine how that's possible. 

  • Fido2Dogs sorry I hadn't seen your post when I just wrote mine. Sounds like you're finding the positives in a difficult situation. And of course just doing 20 miles at any pace is a ridiculously long way for most people.
  • Terry, really sorry you are on the bench, hoping you can recover and get back on the road. Your encouragement to consider spending more time in SA than just a Comrades visit has had my research into points of interest evolved into considering purchasing a round the world ticket. I am currently in the middle of the oneworld alliance map clicking all kinds of combinations. I noticed Easter Island as an option and recalled looking at the marathon some time ago, but was disappointed because it was running same weekend as Comrades... but of course Comrades has drifted slightly these past couple of years... Easter Island runs on 7th June 2020! Hmm... I could start my round the world trip mid May, visit a crater or two in the USA, pop down to Chile (there is a crater in the Atacama desert worth a look) then on to Easter Island for a bit of a warm up for Comrades, then a rush trip to Oz to pop down Wolfe Creek and then hop on to Durban for Comrades - ha ha, probably a totally unrealistic itinerary, but I will map it out and see if I can spin it together! Thanks for prompting me to look at these combinations, next stop Mars; seriously, you can get your boarding pass here
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