Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 119, June 2019 | Page 47

of increased numbers all jammed in the 10:30 to 12-hour
time zone. Meanwhile, the number of silver medals has
dropped to around 4% of the total finishers.
Catching a Bus
The term ‘buses’ was initiated in the Comrades in
the 60’s and 70’s, but back then anything over half a
dozen runners was considered a ‘bus.’ Over the years,
this running as a group has become a much larger
concept, with many runners relying on experienced
‘bus drivers’ (pacesetters) to take them to their goal
finish time. These buses have helped many a runner,
particularly over the last 10km of Comrades, when
mind and body are ready to throw in the towel.
Equally, however, there are significant negatives for
the majority of buses, and we need to review these
carefully and honestly.
The fact is that many bus drivers take their buses out
too fast, when the ideal pacing for both the Up and
Down runs is a slow first half with a faster finish. The
physiology dictates that using a slow start allows the
use of blood triglycerates that save the carbohydrate
in the leg muscles for later in the race. The Comrades
‘Up Run’ from Durban to Pietermaritzburg also
dictates this. It commences with a climb to 35km,
of which at best 4km is downhill, and only perhaps
the first kay can be considered flat! In fact, the first
Up Run in 1922 left out the climb from City Hall to
Tollgate, because “the climb was felt to be too steep
for runners to tackle.”
This means that many runners already ruin their
Comrades in the first 3.8km climb to Tollgate. For
example, an 11-hour runner who has to run with an
average of 7:15/km has to be slow enough to Tollgate
to arrive in 35 minutes, which is around 9:10/km. Even
from there, it’s slow right through to Botha’s Hill.
In 1922, eventual five-time winner Arthur Newton
began his first Comrades conservatively, and his
approach highlights the pacing required. He was in
the last third of the field over the first section of the
route to Fields Hill. This is where many of the 80-plus
starters began to regret their faster start, and he
moved up the field, but was still only lying third when
going through halfway at Drummond. Newton only
took the lead from Cato Ridge, but then opened a
substantial gap. His pacing was ideal for a debut run,
and set a much faster Up Run record than the Down
Run time set by Bill Rowan the previous year.
Broken Rhythm
It is understandable that bus drivers feel the pressure to
get their passengers to the finish on time, but in going
off too fast in order to build a cushion of time to play
with later, they potentially destroy those who are running
near to their best potential, and assure them of a poor
Comrades. The second problem with buses is that they
destroy the natural rhythm of a runner. In effect you
are running someone else’s race. You may be naturally
stronger on the uphills and weaker on the downs, but
the driver may be the exact opposite. This means that
you may have to curtail your rhythm while climbing to
stay in the group, and then take excessive eccentric
loading as the bus descends on the other side.
Other runners sometimes find the buses a problem in
terms of getting past them. The bus blocks the road
and a runner trying to maintain his/her own chosen
rhythm of running, or run and walks, finds that they
are closing on the tail of the bus and now need to
pass. The options are limited, if not impossible:
Either zig-zag through the group, or look for a wider
section of road, or sidewalk, and then sprint past the
bus. Both strategies cost energy, are inefficient, and
destroy the passing runner’s rhythm.
Plug-flow Problem
The impact of buses can be likened to the fluid
mechanics of filling a wine or beer glass from a bottle.
When the bottle is held close to horizontal the wine
flows freely and smoothly into the glass. There is no
splash, bubble or sudden jerks, just a calm smooth
flow with air entering the bottle and wine flowing
out. If you raise the bottle such that the wine fills or
exceeds the size of the neck of the bottle, everything
changes: Now air battles to get into the bottle, and
the wine battles to get out! It takes more energy, is
typified by ‘plug flow’ in fits and stops, and even
becomes noisy. Noise is energy lost.
Similarly, all the runners who have to struggle past a
bus are expending more energy than they would need
to if they were running freely at their own pace, rhythm
and chosen strategy. This is not to say that the buses
are not important, or do not assist runners. Of course
they do, and without doubt they provide massive
motivational and psychological support. However, they
are not necessarily the most efficient in physical effort.
The number of runners completing Comrades in the
10:30 to 11-hour range is not significantly different
to 1988 -1990, but the difference is that there were no
‘massive buses’ to work around back then. Generally,
runners could run their own race. The extension to
12-hours in the 2000 Up Run still had the same sort
of protocol until the final sections, as the reign of the
‘buses’ had not really evolved. In recent years, with
around 40-50% of the field finishing in the last 90
minutes, and buses commencing from the start, it is
a whole different ball game. Even on the Jan Smuts
freeway up to 45 th Cutting, the buses can encompass
the whole width of the road and hold up runners behind.
When the road opens at 45 th , these runners will pick
up the pace to sprint clear of the bus, but often just
get caught behind another. Their race is no longer an
efficient, even-effort sharing of energy along
the route, but becomes an energy-destroying
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