COMRADES CENTENARY
The famous Arthur ’ s Seat , with flowers left by other passing runners
another kilometre due to the narrow road . I met up with them at the start of the Wall of Honour , and much relieved , I downed the last of what I had with me and took on a bit of extra fluid to ‘ catch up .’
I briefly stopped three times shortly after that . First was to pick a ‘ flower ’ to place at Arthur ’ s Seat , second was to place the flower , and then I stopped for a quick photo at halfway . I saw that somebody else had also placed ‘ flowers ’ at Arthur ’ s Seat and wondered if anybody else was on the route . It turns out that some of them had been put there by Wietse van der Westhuizen ( 42 medals ), who had travelled along the route on his way to the official function at Comrades House that morning .
PAUSE FOR THOUGHT
I had reached halfway in just under 3:55 , and was now confident that I would be able to get to my target for the day comfortably . As always , the climb up Inchanga was tough and I was very tempted to take a short walk just after going over the top at around the 50km mark , but I managed to hold on for a few more hills , till just after 53km , before taking my first official walk of the day . From here on I applied the ‘ rule ’ that I have always used : Run when you can , walk when you want to . By this stage I had around 7:30 per kilometre to reach the end in my goal time , and was focused on maintaining that as comfortably as possible .
Between 65km and 75km , I could feel the odd twinge of a cramp , so I adjusted my fluids , speed and walks to get through that phase of the run . During this quiet stage of the run , I thought about all those who had returned from the Great War . Even though they may have been together , I imagined that the emptiness they felt after all they had been through would have left them feeling very alone , after losing so many of their fellow comrades . This was the birth of the spirit of Comrades … pushing on in spite of everything , hanging on to the hope that they would somehow survive the ordeal .
Harrison Flats passed by unusually easily , and the hills after took their toll as they usually do . At the Lion Park interchange , I led the seconding vehicle through the somewhat complex turns to stay on the correct path . This was the only point where they were not sure where to go , but fortunately one that I know probably better than most of the turns on the route . Shortly after that I passed the highest point and noticed that the official Comrades Marathon route marker seemed to be missing . I assume it will be returned once they complete the new development in that area .
STARTING THE FINAL PUSH
On the run down to the chicken farm , some of the workers realised I was out for a commemorative Comrades run and wished me luck . It was nice to know that people were aware that it was the 100th anniversary that day . I had just 10 miles to go at that stage , and finally , the descent into Ashburton came . It was a walkrun ascent over ‘ Little Polly ’ s ,’ and then the final 10km countdown started around the base of Polly Shortts .
The climb was not too bad on legs that I had been using conservatively for a while , but I had many stops getting off the road to avoid oncoming vehicles . I spent most of the climb running sections between the gaps in the oncoming traffic , or walking through the grass on the side to avoid vehicles , as there was nowhere to run on the narrow road . With just a few kilometres to go , I was quickly reminded that Polly ’ s is not the final hill on the route . A few climbs later and the first crossing of New England Road was behind me . As I could not finish on the Scottsville racetrack , I had planned to get as close as I could and then head back to Comrades House and finish there .
With the end in sight , I breezed along New England Road and took the turn into Connaught Road to finish at the gate of Comrades House . I quietly stopped my watch on 8:45:15 just as Bruce Fordyce was starting to address the small gathering . There was no fanfare , no TV cameras , nor any recognition of my solo
achievement … just the satisfaction of knowing that the spirit of Comrades lives on , and that I had met my goal of completing the run within the original winning time of nine hours , set 100 years before when Bill Rowan won in 8:59:00 . I saw Wietse in the audience and he came over for a brief chat and photo before I departed for the guest house that we stayed in .
TIME FOR A DRINK
After a refreshing shower , I took the 1998 Comrades T-shirt out of its bag for the first time , as I felt I had finally ‘ earned ’ it . Ironically , the theme from that year was , “ Can you beat it ?” Quite fitting for where we find ourselves today , fighting an invisible war against a virus , but I believe the human spirit will overcome it , and we will win this ‘ war .’
We headed back to Comrades House and managed to get into the grounds to chat with a few of the people that were still there . I met up with my good friend Gawie Falconer ( Green Club ‘ doorman ’ at the Expo each year ), had a chat with Bruce , and finally got to meet Comrades Chairperson Cheryl Winn . I was offered a drink by Roxanne Thomas , the Comrades Museum curator , which quickly became a beer , and I took my drink through to the Green Club inside of Comrades House and officially celebrated my run there . And of course , I want to thank my seconding team for a great job on the day . This would not have been possible without them .
Great news is that the Mayor of Pietermaritzburg has stated that Connaught Road will be renamed to Comrades Marathon Road . in recognition of the impact the race has had on the city . May the Spirit of Comrades continue forever .
Keith at Comrades House after his run
About the Author
Keith Reynolds is a Service Management Senior Consultant at MTN South Africa and is a member of the Irene Athletic Club in Gauteng North . He has completed the Comrades Marathon 32 times from 1987 to 2019 , and in that 33-year period he only missed the 1998 race due to illness . His best finishing time was 7:20:56 in the 2011 Up Run , and his best Down Run time is 7:40:28 , which he posted in his third Comrades in 1989 . He has 1 silver , 6 Bill Rowan , 1 Robert Mtshali and 24 bronze medals .
Images : Action Photo SA & courtesy Keith Reynolds
34 ISSUE 142 JUNE 2021 / www . modernathlete . co . za