An Actual Race Report

It just occurred to me that a race report with some actual facts might be more useful for a rational person than the deranged ramblings that I produce so dependably. Or, at least, it will provide me with a shred of evidence in my favor for the mental illness commitment hearing.

Cory and I started in the fourth corral (seeding group) out of eight. Still, it took us over 3 minutes to reach the starting line. A big part of the reason is that the race officials enforced the seeding every bit as effectively as they enforced the race rule that no one could wear a hat or visor unless it had the logo of the race sponsor, Reebok. Which is to say, they did not make even a token effort to enforce either rule. So about half of the people starting in front of us were seeded behind us.

It turns out, that was a good thing. Besides taking 3:15 to reach the start line, we also had about a half mile of alternating walking and running before it spread out enough to run continuously, and that let us ease into the race and gradually speed up to a comfortable pace, rather than the typical situation of starting out fast from adrenaline and excitement and having to try to pull back on the throttle.

We had made a plan before the race to alternate 10 minutes of running with 2 minutes of walking throughout the race, except where the hills made that impractical. Of course, since the first 25 miles of the race are one continuous hill, with three mountains and a few flat areas thrown in, our plan was--even in our own minds--more of a wishful thought than a practical expectation.

My biggest surprise was how close we were able to come to the plan. We ran 25 or 30 minutes before our first walk break, but that included the walk/run at the start and was at a very easy pace.

The first "mountain" on the course is Cowie's Hill, at about 8 miles. It rises about 450 feet in a little under a mile. We walked the bulk of the hill, but began running about a quarter mile from the top where it started to get less steep. Being an asshole, I said to Cory, as we jogged past some walking South African runners, in a voice loud enough for them to hear, "When does Cowie's Hill start?" Cory replied, "We're already on it." To which I said, again loud enough to carry to the other runners, "Geez, this is nothing compared to Heartbreak Hill!" (We had been told multiple times that Heartbreak Hill at Boston would be considered a flat stretch at the Comrades Marathon. In fact, that was true, but I wasn't going to admit it to the South Africans.)

There were a few stretches where we ran 12 - 14 minutes because of a nice downhill, and we walked Field's Hill (2 miles, rising 800 feet) and Botha's Hill (1 mile rising 400 feet), but we generally stayed with the 10 and 2 schedule through the first half of the race.

We hit halfway at 5:03. According to several advisory blogs, that put us at a finish time of just under 11 hours, which was our goal. The funny thing, though, was the 10 and 2 schedule was not any harder to do and, because of rolling terrain, and hence more downhills, we were running faster while still feeling like we were running comfortably.

I timed each 5K of the race, as a way of checking how consistent we were--it's long enough not to be too influenced by an uphill or a downhill but short enough to provide sufficient data points. What I discovered was surprising, in a positive way. Here are the 5K times through the first 60 kilometers of the race:

5K 37:03 10K 35:43 15K 34:18

20K 32:33 25K 39:24 (includes Field's Hill --800 feet up in 2 miles)

30K 33:20 35K 35:06 (includes Botha's Hill--400 feet up in 1 mile)

40K 33:16 45K 33:45 50K 33:34

55K 31:20 60K 31:30

Halfway was at 43.5K. As you can see, we were getting stronger the further we ran. This is not because we are such he-men (sadly), but because the race strategy of staying out of oxygen debt and not letting our legs take a pounding on the downhills was paying dividends. By 60K, the temperature was getting above the comfortable range for me, and we were on a long stretch of the course with no shade, so I had to slow down. I am pleased to say that Cory did not. More proof of the soundness of our strategy.

Cory volunteered to stay with me as I slowed down, so I had to pull the old "I'm right behind you; just keep running" ruse, then hide behind other runners so that he had to go ahead on his own. (If you look at the race from the proper perspective, I really was right behind him, in that I was much closer to him than, say, the west coast of Australia) Even though I slowed down, I was running the 5K segments in 35 to 37 minutes. Cory, I can estimate, was running them in 30 - 31 minutes.

Then there was Polly Shortts--the last named hill. It was about a mile long and a rise of 300 feet, making it the least steep of the hills, but at nearly 50 miles into the race, it is a hill that everybody walks. Some runners run 50 or 100 yards of Polly as some sort of macho thing, but the reality is that Polly always wins. We met a guy who ran a time of 7 hours 5 minutes (a pace of 7:52 per mile) and I asked him, "Did you walk any of the race?" He looked at me like I was slow-witted and replied, "I walked Polly's, of course."

Even walking Polly's, my second half was only 15 minutes slower than my first half and Cory's second half was 12 minutes faster than his first half.

As Cory and I prepare for the Leadville 100, I am a believer in the strategy from Comrades. You don't help yourself by going out fast to "put time in the bank". As long as you are ahead of the cutoff times and running comfortably, you are where you want to be. As the race goes on, the cutoff times get longer, so simply by maintaining your pace you build your cushion.

I also want to voice my agreement with Cory about the Comrades experience. So many nice and helpful people. Such a great running atmosphere. Such a memorable course. A special experience that I recommend to anyone who can make the trip.