Congratulations to Kristi for finishing the 2007 Comrades Marathon! The Comrades is an 83 km (56 mile) race from Pietermartizburg to Durban. The starting point alternates between the two cities each year- so next year it will start in Durban and finish in PMB. The route ending in Durban is considered the “downhill” since the elevation drops, however, some people claim that the uphill is “easier”. A special medal is given to people who run it two years in a row thus completing both the uphill and the downhill. The race is in its 82nd year.
This year’s winner was a Russian guy who finished it in 5 hours and 20 minutes – breaking a 20-year-old Comrades record for fastest time. The female winners were two identical twins, also from Russia, taking first and second place. They ran in at 6 hours and 10 minutes – about 29 seconds apart. Kristi finished in just over 11 hours – finishing at all is quite an acheivement not to mention INSANE. I’m still having trouble believing that people can run that far in one day.
According to the newspaper 12,000 people were crazy enough to start the Comrades, but it was silent as to how many of them made it across the finish line. In order to officially complete the race one must finish in 12 hours and there are various checkpoints along the way where runners who fall too far behind, to the point of having no hope of finishing in 12 hours, are eliminated. One man died.
One does have to qualify to run the Comrades – a major prerequiste being the ability to finish a standard marathon in under 5 hours. As we were hanging out at the finish line waiting to see Kristi run in, I observed that many of the other runners who were able to complete Comrades did NOT appear to be in very good shape. There were a few people who looked like they hadn’t run a lap around the track since Mandela left office. Then there were the handful of South African runners who cracked open six-packs of beer and lit up cigarettes within minutes of finishing the race!!! Unbelieveable.
Thankfully Kristi is still alive, although on this morning after she may wish she wasn’t. She’s glad she did The Comrades but has vowed never to do it again as long as she lives. Her sights are now set on entering the Boston Marathon. Go Kristi GO!
This Is Africa 