Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 119, June 2019 | Page 41

ROAD RUNNING
competitive runner, with a marathon best of just over 2:49. However, eventually the ultra
bug bit and that became his focus.
“I had a desire to run Comrades,” says Isaac, adding that his Comrades career started
pretty well. On debut, he ran 8:38.08 on the Up Run in 1990. The following year he
clocked 7:53:48 on the Down Run, and in 1994 he managed 7:32:57 on the Up. A 7:16:28
in 1995 earned him the first of four consecutive silver (sub-7:30) medals, with his best
performance coming in1997 when he came agonisingly close to the seven-hour mark. “I
started to cramp in the last 20km, so lost some time there. I was disappointed, because
I wanted that sub-seven, and I do regret that I never made it, but I have found that the
Comrades Marathon has fulfilled me in so many other ways.”
Another silver medal followed in 1998 as he came home in 7:24:14, but now aged 40, he
decided to tone down the intensity of his running. Fortunately, he soon found the he was
actually enjoying his running more, especially when he was able to help other people with
their running. “I found that I get great personal satisfaction when I train youngsters. I am
very passionate about running and when I see youngsters run and start training properly, I
get excited. And if I can make a small difference, it makes me very happy.”
COMRADES APPROACH
Isaac is also a familiar figure in Gauteng road races, and when he runs as a pacesetter,
many runners congregate around him and rely on his experience and advice to pace
them to their target time. While not an official pacesetter at Comrades, the fact that he
has 29 medals to his name means that he knows the race well and has a vast amount
of experience in those legs. As a result, many runners who have gotten to know him, or
have heard of him, latch onto him during the course of the race, knowing they can tail him
and be sure to finish comfortably. That’s because he not only boasts 29 medals in the
Comrades, but also 27 sub-11:00 finishes. Thus Isaac believes that over the years he has
taken around 150 or so novices to a Comrades Finish.
Isaac goes into this year’s Comrades with a very specific plan to break 11 hours. “I will
start off at seven minutes per kilometre pace until halfway, which I want to reach in just
over five hours. I do this to make up some time, but am still running well within myself.
From halfway to 80km I want to average around 7:30 per kilometre, and then pick up
the last few kilometres again to around seven minutes per kilometre. I tell those who
are running around me that we have plenty of time, and often a fairly big group gathers
around me. We joke a lot, and it helps us all to finish the race well.”
And once he has completed his 30 th Comrades, Isaac says he is planning to take a step
back from the race – he calls it “retirement” – but that doesn’t mean he will stop running.
“I might do one more Comrades next year, but my big dream now is to run the London
Marathon in 2021. I know it is the centenary of the Comrades Marathon that year, and
I may be on the start line for that, but that is not really top of my mind now. Running
London is what will drive me going forward, and helping more youngsters in Katlehong
find their running passion.” With 40 years of running experience, Isaac has a lot of
knowledge to impart on the next running generation, and he will no doubt continue to
make a big impact on those in his community, but for now, the big focus is Comrades
number 30!
Your Comrades Memories Captured Forever
F
or the 2019 Comrades Marathon, Jetline
Action Photo is offering a special reduced
price Digital Package for just R399.00.
This offer is valid until race day, giving you a
massive saving of R135.00! (The normal after-
race package price is R534.00.) Come visit our
Comrades Marathon Expo stand to sign up for
this special discount package, and while there,
have an image taken that will be loaded to
Facebook and then added to your race number.
We wish all Comrades runners an enjoyable,
safe run! Just make sure your race number is
clearly visible – if you can’t see it in the mirror
when getting dressed for the race, then we
probably won’t be able to see it in images either.
As always, we will try to find one or two new
shooting locations on race day, but as
usual we will see you at Cowies Hill, Halfway
(Drummond), Polly Shortts and the Finish.
We particularly look forward to photographing
the runners who finish their 10th Comrades
Marathon and receive their Green Number.
Also, we are running a competition on
Facebook in conjunction with Nutribullet, for
the best running story. Go to www.facebook.com/
JetlineActionPhoto to enter. We have already
received some great stories!
PS: Past Comrades race images going back to 2004 can still
be viewed and ordered from our website.
www.jetlineactionphoto.com
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