Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 123, October 2019 | Page 34

OUT OF
THE By BOX
Norrie Williamson
THE FABULOUS 50
To a large degree, the 50km race distance is considered as little more than a long training run for and stepping stone
towards the Comrades Marathon by many runners in the South African context, but there is a growing momentum for this
event worldwide.
A
t the recent International
Association of Ultrarunning
(IAU) World 50km
Championships, run in Brasivo,
Romania in August, Team South
Africa brought home a silver medal
in the men’s race, courtesy of
Lungile Gonqa, as well as a team
gold thanks to having three men in
the top six and four in the top 11.
South Africa’s performance in the
men’s race was not that unexpected,
but there had been some hopes of
higher finishing positions amongst
the women. Still, it was a very
successful outing for the country.
Lungile Gonqa
34
Popularity of Ultras
With a 2:29:06 marathon best, 40-year-old Alyson
stepped up to the 50km with minimal change to her
marathon training, for her first ever ultra. She went
out from the gun and returned a 3:07:20, taking
over a minute from the long-standing World Record
3:08:39 set by SA’s Frith van Der Merwe during the
56km Two Oceans Marathon in 1989. Dixon had
a minor setback in the last laps, but her blistering
finish clearly demonstrated her strength. Indeed,
she was back racing the following Sunday, this
time at the 21km Great North Run in Sunderland in
the UK, which she completed in 1 hour 28 minutes
in a Superwoman costume, posting a Guinness
Record for the fastest female superhero over a half
marathon.
Any female marathoner with a sub-2:30 marathon
would have a similar potential in this ‘short ultra’
distance. The same would be true in the men’s event,
and as the top marathon times in the world come
down, ever closer to two hours, so the incentive
ISSUE 124 OCTOBER 2019 / www.modernathlete.co.za
The point is, this growing focus on
shorter ultras is more suited to current
or retiring marathon runners, and
worldwide, national teams should start
to reflect this in the future. It needs
remembering that in many countries,
the ultra is only considered to begin at
100km and beyond. (Although short
of that distance, Comrades may, due
to the hilly course, be considered in
either grouping by some runners.)
However, it’s hoped that, unlike Alyson
Dixon, who has made it clear that this
was her first and only venture into
international ultra-running, they will get
hooked on the ultra distances once
they have ‘tasted’ that first 50km or six-hour event.
For those runners who do step up, there have been
World Championships at 100km since the first held
at Torhout, Belgium in 1987, which I had the honour
of competing in. It was quite a limited affair 32 years
ago, but is now a fully-fledged IAAF distance and
world record event. Gradually, these events have
evolved, and continue to evolve, with various regional
and world events now added – the IAU now hosts
World Championships at 100km, 24 hours and 50km,
and all-told, ultra-running around the world now
attracts around 70,000 runners each year.
Of course, one could argue that around 20, 000
of these are South Africans, but the global ultra
community is getting bigger, and the number
of federations holding national or continental
championships, and sending teams or individuals to
championships, is increasing. The European 24-hour
championships began in 1992 – another I had the
Meanwhile, the establishment of the
IAU 50km World Championship has
spawned similar distance races for
continental championships, and is
expected to become the stepping
stone for more runners around the
world to step up to ultra-marathon
distances. While top contenders can
cover 95km-plus in six hours, the
average overseas club runner can
exceed 50km in that time period,
and thus 50km and six-hour events
can attract marathon runners, as
British Rio Olympian Alyson Dixon took pleasure in
displaying in Romania last month.
and earning power of ultra-running
increases as more of the 2:10 runners
will find the 50km more attractive. It’s a
simple step, and we can expect to see
Thompson Magawana’s 50km World
Record of 2:43:38, also set in the Two
Oceans in 1988, drop to under 2 hours
40 minutes in the near future. If it ever
became more financially beneficial for
a 2:05 marathon runner to compete
over the distance, then 2:35 would be
on the cards.