run your best , or the world ’ s best marathon time , the key to success is running at an even pace .
faster – men ’ s winner Bongmusa Mthembu and third-place finisher Steven Way of the USA !
Chasing Negative Splits
Of course , that ’ s all good and well for marathon running – but does the same hold true for ultra-runners ? Taking a look at the results from the Comrades Marathon suggests that it does . In most years , the winner of the Comrades men ’ s race is the runner who gets his pacing right and runs even , or slightly negative , splits – but that is easier said than done , as can be seen below in the table where I ’ ve plotted the time and pace of the first 30 men at the most recent Comrades , run in 2019 .
Note that the Drummond “ halfway ” timing mat is not precisely at the halfway mark , with the result that the second “ timed half ” of the Comrades Up run is about 700 metres longer than the first . Even so , not one of the first 30 men was able to run a negative split , i . e . running the second half faster than the first half . The two that came closest – and the only two to run a “ negative pace ,” where the average speed per kilometre was faster over the second half – were Edward Mothibi and Bongmusa Mthembu , who finished first and second respectively .
Learn to Pace Yourself
We ’ d all love to run as fast as Eliud Kipchoge and Ann Ashworth , but the reality is that most of us have to settle for a more sedate pace . However , whether in life or on the road , if you are aiming to achieve anything more substantial than the journey of a few hundred metres , getting the pacing right is the best way to cross the finish line in the shortest possible time .
At the start line of the marathons and Comrades in our professional lives , sprinting off as fast as we can is the worst possible thing we can do . We need to be realistic about our jogging pace , stick to it and diligently jog towards our goal . There ’ s a time and place for sprinting – and that ’ s only when the finish line is in sight .
I painstakingly went down through the men ’ s elite field until I eventually found the first true negative split : 83rd-placed finisher , Englishman Steve Hobbs , who ran the second half 4m27s quicker that the first . ( I spoke to Hobbs after the race and plan to write a separate article about his approach .)
Accelerating Ashworth
Now let ’ s switch to the women ’ s race , where the 2018 run of Ann Ashworth provides perhaps the most powerful illustration of perfect pacing . She entered that 2018 event without a gold medal top 10 finish in her previous seven starts . In fact , she was considered such an outside chance of taking the win , that a rival club manager objected to Ashworth being part of the elite press conference , as “ she was not a legitimate contender for the title .” Well , the graph below , plotting the top 10 female finishers , shows just how the 2018 women ’ s title was won – and is a great example of a perfectly executed race plan .
There is only one runner who gets progressively faster as the race evolves , and that is Ashworth ( represented with the gold line ), who obliterates the field over the last quarter of the race . Compare Ashworth ’ s splits to those of her competitors over the Pinetown to Mayville split , bearing in mind that there is the ‘ small challenge ’ of Cowie ’ s Hill during this section . Whilst the rest of the field slows down substantially , Ashworth maintains an even pace . She ’ s already got 70 kilometres on her legs at Pinetown , but is able to run the last half marathon at well under four minutes per kilometre .
Just how fast was Ashworth running over those last 21 kilometres ? A relative comparison illustrates it best : In the entire field , only two runners ran this segment
Want to win the Comrades Marathon ? Your best shot is to run an even pace
About the Author
The Running Mann has run over 240 marathons and ultras , and his current mission is to run every marathon in South Africa . He recently fulfilled a lifetime goal of securing a shoe sponsorship from The Sweatshop Broadacres and Asics South Africa ( and a running kit sponsorship from Runderwear ), thus allowing him to run more races and share their stories . You can follow his adventures on Twitter , Facebook or Instagram , and on his popular blog .
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