The first Comrades marathon was a ‘ Down Run ’ on 24 May 1921 . This was Empire Day , but in the mid to late 1950s , as the country moved towards a Republic , the race had no fixed date , and was even held in mid-July . From the 1960 ’ s the date became fixed as 31 May ( Republic Day ), until 1994 , when it moved to 16 June ( Youth Day ), and more recently the second weekend in June . Given all these variations , it ’ s clearly a myth that the 1st of January is the ideal date to commence training for Comrades .
OUT OF THE BOX out of the box by NORRIE WILLIAMSON
March to Comrades
There is a belief that January signals the ideal beginning for Comrades trainings . This is imprecise and can ’ t be correct for obvious reasons . In other words , January should not be the first day of Comrades training … and this all impacts on when you should run your qualifier !
columnist , Stuart Mann , a . k . a . The Running Mann , in last month ’ s edition of this mag , highlighted and re-emphasised many of the Comrades training misperceptions . The stats confirm many of the coaching and training keys that have become mired in a mythical mist , and the acceptance of mass coaching , sometimes by runners who have no coaching qualification other than having completed the race a few times .
Personal experience saw me arrive in South Africa from Scotland as an 85kg amateur rugby player on 22 February 1981 , with my only running experience being 80 minutes around a rugby field , and training sessions . Inspired by an article in the UK Jogging magazine , I was introduced to the Comrades and Two Oceans , and three months later , I ran the 90km Comrades ‘ Up Run ’ in a silver medal time of 7 hours 9 minutes .
It ’ s clear that I had not started training on 1 January , nor did I meet the mythical 1000km training requirement that many proclaim is necessary to complete Comrades . Natural running talent can also be discounted : I was a front-row forward , who was the slowest person in my school class , and had the weight to bowl over any ruck … providing it lasted long enough for me to arrive ! However , achieving provincial status in rugby had taught me the value of having direction , determination , desire , and dedication – the Four Ds . Apply these attributes and any goal is within a person ’ s grasp , and my three-month Comrades was not built on consistency of fitness training .
Statistics Support the Coaching
Of course , novices usually only commence training when they are inspired to take up the challenge , but the extensive statistical analysis of Comrades 2022 done by my fellow Modern Athlete
One substantiated gem in his findings is that “ those who ran their qualifiers earlier ( e . g . Sep / Oct 2021 ) performed much better ( higher finish rate and faster average time ) than those who did late qualifiers .” This points to the need for consistency of training , the progression of performance , and the requirement for adequate recovery after top performance , and that aligns with Eluid Kipchoge ’ s approach of targeting only two or three races per year , with focused build-up periods and recovery between . Recovery doesn ’ t mean total rest , but rather a consistency of training , and lower overall workload . The focus of training will also change towards the foundation skills and attributes that will lead to an improved performance through more efficient running .
Nine-time Comrades winner , Bruce Fordyce , had a similar approach , racing both Comrades and London to Brighton ( or the Chicago 50 miles ), where he set World Bests in the early 1980 ’ s . Later this was reduced to a singular focus on Comrades , with specific training commencing in March . In summer he looked to improve his top-end speed and could be found in the middle ( or rear ) of 10,000m track races , or challenging Comrades colleagues in street miles . Many of Bruce ’ s best Comrades performances came after his training was restricted by injury in January and February .
The author believes many runners start training too early for the Comrades Marathon
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