Images : Action Photo SA & Courtesy Debbie Fass |
When Debbie Fass crossed the finish line of her first Comrades in 1995 , she swore she would never run it again ... because everything hurt ! She had run the race in memory of her late father , who had died from cancer , and while proud of her finish , she had never felt pain like that in her 29 years . “ The race was 91,76km that year and it was the longest 10 hours and 15 minutes of my life . While finishing was quite an achievement , I couldn ’ t walk for five days ,” says Debbie . “ The bath that night was torture – my legs ached in the water – and just having sheets resting on my legs was agony , so I had no interest in running another Comrades . I said to myself , f *** it , I am never doing that again !” It wasn ’ t that Debbie had gone into the race underprepared , it was just that her body had not handled the distance as well as hoped . She had put in the long hours of training and had attended all the famous Comrades Panel Talks hosted by the late Don Oliver , the original Comrades Coach , at Wits University , so she was fully aware of what she was getting herself into . On Don ’ s advice , she ran the 56km Korkie Ultra Marathon , from Pretoria to Germiston , as her long run . Don had said in the meetings , “ If you can run Korkie , the slow poison marathon , you can run Comrades , and if you take your time from the Korkie , times it by two , then subtract one hour , that will be your Comrades time .” He was within one minute of my actual time , 10:15 ! He really was an amazing guy .”
However , as satisfied as she was with her finish , it was the pain in her legs that made the biggest impression , and she made the age-old promise to herself : Never again . But running is like childbirth … you forget the
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Debbie clocked her best Comrades time of 9:10 in 2011 |
pain , or your fading memory at least dulls the pain , and soon you can ’ t quite remember why you thought it was all that bad , so you attempt it again . And that ’ s how Debbie ended up lining up for her second Comrades in 2008 .
Always on the Run
Along with Paul Mitchell , Debbie had helped to start the Liberty Running Club in 1994 , serving as Club Secretary , and the following year she tackled that first Comrades , but then reverted to running more socially , just doing about 30km a week . In 1998 a career move saw her move to Discovery Health , which helped kickstart her semi-dormant running career . Together with Archie Walaza , she started the Discovery Health Running Club , and to get more people involved , she knew she had to lead by example , so she began running more regularly , although never more than 10km at a time .
The Comrades had been a constant companion in Debbie ’ s life – her brother-in-law had attempted the race five times , completing it twice , her mother had helped her prepare for her first run , and being so involved in the club , all her close friends were runners , and many followed the traditional build-up to the Comrades each year . “ In the middle of 2007 , I made up my mind to commit to the 2008 Comrades , and I was determined that this attempt would have a better ending than my first one ,” recalls Debbie .
The race proved an emotional experience as Debbie , now 42 years old , came home in 10:05 , finishing 10 minutes faster than her first run 13 years before , and in far less pain thanks to all the research she had put into her training and race nutrition . “ I was so overwhelmed
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