Images : Action Photo SA , Stuart Mann & courtesy Camille Herron , Shaun Meiklejohn , Barry Holland
tender caresses and light tickles ; a gentle frolic as you work your way down from an altitude of 600m to a sea-level climax . This marathon is light petting , PG-rated first base action all the way . There are no quad crushing downhills , just a long , gradual , tantric drop to home base ( and a very soft landing ) at Feathers in Beacon Bay . There are a couple of minor uphills along the way , but nothing that will leave any marks or bruises the next day . No safe words required . This is a race that treats you well , is guaranteed to leave you with a smile on your face , and will respect you the next morning . I make this the easiest marathon in the country .”
I also ran the Surrender Hill Marathon in 2019 , and it inspired a slightly different route description : “ One should always be wary of marathons with the word ‘ Hill ’ in the title – and the Surrender Hill Marathon only enhances this reputation . It ’ s a gruelling route that takes you close to 2000m above sea level , over a profile that looks like a crab-claw knuckleduster . Surrender Hill is a mountain with two peaks that you get to see from both sides on the out-and-back route . Each climb sucks the life out of your lungs , whilst each plummet smashes the spring out of your step and annihilates your quads . For those that haven ’ t thrown in the towel after 35km of constant jabbing , the final 7km is one solid uphill body blow . The nastiest , steepest climb is reserved for the last 2km , a final knock-out punch to endure before you get back to Clarens and can say you ’ ve conquered Surrender Hill .”
How ‘ big ’ is a marathon ? The Border Masters Marathon ( left ) versus the Surrender Hill Marathon
These races are both exactly 42.195 kilometres in distance , but you would expect to run substantially slower at Surrender
Hill . Same distance , different size . The lesson here is to ask “ what is the terrain like ” before estimating finish time . I have run my “ Exercise exercise ” with thousands of people , but never once has anyone asked me “ what ’ s the route like ” before providing what they believe is a confident estimate . factor . The easiest way to illustrate this is with the photo below left , which I took during Comrades , with just 42 kilometres to go . Those of us who ’ ve been there can empathise with the runners in picture , who look a lot like the cast of The Walking Dead , slowly lurching towards Pietermaritzburg . The 45 kilometres they ’ ve covered to get to that point will have a significant impact on the ‘ size ’ of the remaining marathon .
The key lesson here is that if you want to complete the ultra-marathons of life faster , more comfortably and more predictably , then you should break them into smaller chunks
Ability to Adapt and Adjust
One final example from Comrades to illustrate the potentially massive impact that risk – and specifically risk factors beyond our control – can have on performance is the graph below . It shows the finisher percentage at every Comrades held this millennium – that ’ s the percentage of runners who crossed the start line and managed to earn a medal . Normally the finish percentage is in the high 80s and occasionally breaches the 90 % mark , but there is one big anomaly . In 2013 almost half of the runners that started the race failed to finish . What happened in 2013 ? The short answer is , “ the weather .”
The day started off fairly cool in Durban , but the temperature quickly rose into the 30s . At the same time , there was a gale force headwind that sapped the energy from the aspirant ultra-runners and quite literally blew a huge portion of the field away . None of us can control the weather . The result is that in 2013 , only 55 % of those that started were able to finish the race – and the vast majority of those that did finish , did so substantially slower than their predicted time .
A further lesson here is that we need to adjust our plans rather than sticking to unrealistic goals when the conditions are not in our favour . Many Comrades runners stuck to their original race plan in 2013 , rather than adjusting early to a slower but more realistic pace , and ended up with a DNF rather than a different coloured medal .
Another consideration that is often forgotten is , “ Are you starting with fresh legs ?” Hopefully , if you tackle either of the above marathons , you would do so on fresh legs , after a good night ’ s sleep , but what ’ s happened beforehand is another major risk
The low percentage of finishers at the 2013 Comrades can be explained
Just a marathon to go in Comrades … means you ’ ve already done 45km !
As stated in the Agile Manifesto , “ Respond to change over following a plan .” Plans are important , but our ability to adapt to what happens after the starting gun fires ultimately determines whether or not we are able to realise our goals and earn our medals . As John Lennon eloquently said , “ Life is what happens when you ’ re busy making other plans .” Mike Tyson paraphrased him more bluntly with , “ Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth .” Whether it ’ s life making other plans , or Mike Tyson punching you in the face , breaking life ’ s big tasks into smaller chunks will help you get fast feedback on whether your big , long-term goals are realistic or need to be adjusted .
About the Author
The Running Mann has run over 240 marathons and ultras around the world , and his current mission is to run every marathon in South Africa , so he is particularly looking forward to running the 45k Timbavati Traverse on 9 July . If you ’ d like him to run your race or talk at your event , email therunningmann @ gmail . com . You can follow his adventures on Twitter , Facebook or Instagram , and on his popular blog .
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