Comrades Supplement Comrades Training and Info Guide, January 2016 | Page 30

Last Word

HUMBLED BY THE SPIRIT OF COMRADES
The Comrades Marathon is world famous for its incredible camaraderie, both between the runners themselves, and
between the runners and spectators. – BY SEAN FALCONER

I

t should come as no surprise that the Comrades spirit has been compared to the
spirit of the Olympic Games, where winning is not the all-important goal, but
merely being a participant is already a major achievement. Naturally, winning
is a great honour and tremendous achievement, but for most Comrades runners the
finisher’s medal is reward enough. Unfortunately, there will always be some who don’t
get a medal at the end of the day. Some will bail along the way, due to injury, cramp
or fatigue, but most will keep going until they finish – or are asked to leave the course
having missed one of the intermediate cut-off times along the way. But one thing they
will get, no matter what, is terrific support from everybody around them.
That spirit of the Comrades Marathon has become globally famous, thanks in part
to the participation of foreign runners. For example, when the first non-South
African team to enter the Comrades came from the Road Runners Club of England
in 1962, the Brits took the race by storm, claiming four of the top five places and
easily winning the team competition, but the only thing they wanted to talk about
was the amazing support for all the runners, from the leaders down to the slowest
back-markers. They had never seen so much cheering for runners who finished so
low down the rankings, and said it was a humbling experience to be part of such a
fantastic event.

Getting Home

In 1972, novice Bernard Emmerich was the last official finisher, crossing the line a
split second before the final gun. As he entered the final straight, sprinting for all
his worth, a runner ahead of him was seen to leave the straight and disappear into
the crowd. The only logical explanation is that the unfortunate runner believed he
had already missed the cut-off. He actually would have made it comfortably if he
had just kept going. The story of that unfortunate bailer perhaps best illustrates the
Comrades Marathon runner’s goal. It is all about finishing, whether you are first or
stone last.

Getting into the Spirit

The Comrades enigma was neatly summed up by Arthur Hampton in 1951. He
had won the South African Marathon Championship in 1938, and at the age of 42
decided to try the Comrades. He said before the race, “No one in South Africa can
call himself a marathon runner until he has completed the Comrades Marathon.” He
went on to finish fifth and won the Hardy Ballington Trophy for the first novice to
finish that year, but it was another novice finisher that year, Peter Ivy, who summed
it all up best: “Running the Comrades is great… it’s like banging your head against a
brick wall. It’s so lovely when you stop!”
And yet, thousands upon thousands of runners do come back to do it all again, and
this year the entry c \و