Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 122, September 2019 | Page 30

THE RUNNING
MANN
By Stuart Mann
Drug Running at Comrades
(& Discrediting American Ignorance)
T
he Comrades Marathon is a lot like a nasty big
brother that bullies, torments and tortures his
weaker siblings, and I’ve received more than
my fair share of merciless moers, violent lammies
and vicious donkey klaps at the annual family reunion
between Durban and Pietermaritzburg. I feel this
entitles me to have an opinion and say what I like
about Comrades, and occasionally I repay my ‘serial
brutalisation’ with a playful retort or gentle jab of my
own (before running away, slowly).
However, when someone outside the ‘family’ callously
criticises your big brother, all past grievances are
forgotten, all past sins are forgiven, and all the scars
and bruises from past battles become prized signs of
affection. When someone outside the circle of trust
insults a member of one’s household, the correct
response is to immediately take up arms (or in the
case of Comrades, legs) to defend the family honour!
That is exactly what happened when the insolent,
ill-informed and ignorant American ultra-runner, Jim
Walmsley, condescendingly disparaged Comrades
30
with a reckless remark. He was responding to the
question, “Are there any records out there, world
records, even some of these 24-hour runs, that you
want, before you retire?” when he answered, “(As
for) course records. I think Comrades has a little
bit of scepticism from my viewpoint about clean
competing.” The offensive insinuation was quickly
highlighted by the eagle-eyed South African TV
commentator, Cuan Walker.
American Influence
Now Jim may be well-known in America, but few
South Africans would likely have heard his name
until recently, and then only because he broke Bruce
Fordyce’s long-standing 50-mile (80.45km) world best
time by 14 seconds at the beginning of May, during a
100km race (before he apparently faded over the last
20km and ended up finishing fourth, about 45 minutes
behind the winner).
Sidenote: One of the things that puzzled me at the
time was that social media went all hooey over the
50-mile world best, but no one said, “Hey, but this
ISSUE 122 SEPTEMBER 2019 / www.modernathlete.co.za
When an American calls our beloved Comrades Marathon into question, we need to stand up for our race!