INSPIRATION
BEST COMRADES UP RUN SILVER EVER?
90 kilograms of Afrikaner- Portuguese hybrid hits the finish straight for a perfectly paced Silver
In the last Up Run in 2024, Lindt De La Port pulled off arguably the most impressive silver medal performance on the day, if not of all time, and proved that he is the‘ prince of pacing.’ – BY STUART MANN
If you think running a negative split at Comrades is tough, you should have tried to achieve this feat at the 2022 Down Run, when the second“ half”( from the Drummond timing mat) was 2.2km longer than the first. In fact, there was just one person who finished under 7:30 and managed this accomplishment – Lindt De La Port.
What is even more impressive is that, weighing in at 90 kilograms and bearing an Afrikaner-Portuguese hybrid physique that resembles fortified( rather than fine) wine, de la Port is the heaviest person to achieve a Silver medal that I know of. But it’ s one thing to earn a Silver on the Down Run when you’ ve got gravity on your side – what about carrying all that cargo up to Pietermaritzburg? literally broken down kilometre by kilometre into different zones based on elevation. I’ m a“ rock up and run” type guy, so most of it went straight over my head, but I did note that there was even time worked in for a few“ possible walk zones” and two definite walk zones( a section on Field’ s Hill and Inchanga).
Lindt is a disciple of the 80 / 20 training method( 80 % low intensity, 20 % high intensity), but suffered an injury in March 2024 that hindered his training plans. His fastest marathon time over the calendar year preceding that Comrades was a 3:24, but he ran a solid 3h53 at the BNAC 48km ultra to secure a B seeding.
He knew that everything needed to go perfectly on race day, and it did. Lindt cruised home in 7:29:50 with 10 seconds to spare. According to his running friends,“ Lindt is a sucker for quotes,” so I guess this run could be summed up as,“ I love it when a plan comes together.”
Carefully Planned Run
When you’ ve got your eyes on a Silver medal but go through Drummond in 3:55:41, that’ s game over for most people, but this was all part of the plan for de la Port in his 2024 Comrades Up Run. I’ ve seen that plan, with the Comrades route quite
No room for error as Lindt enters Scottsville Race Course
Images: Marathon Photos & Courtesy Lindt de la Port
90