ROAD RUNNING
A Man and His Dogs
The smile says it all as Rory celebrates his Comrades medal
“ The next day I had shivers , I was sweating , and I couldn ’ t see straight , so I went to the doctor , and after putting me on a drip , he did a blood test and told me I had a really , really bad sinus infection . He said I ’ d probably had it for a week , and really shouldn ’ t have run Comrades , so that became my official excuse for bailing , but I knew I had done it all wrong on race day . I don ’ t think I respected Comrades enough , and it showed me flames !”
So much Better !
As a result , when Rory reached 60km in the race this year , with Yoshen waiting for him on the same spot , he says it was a very different experience . “ I remembered how grim I felt there last year , but now I was feeling 100 % perfect , and I told Yoshen I wanted to carry on . He said I looked so much better than last year , so I should just keep going slowly . He told me I was 40 minutes ahead of cut-off , so I didn ’ t need to rush , and he just encouraged me to go for it . So , we took a photo and then I said bye , see you later .”
Rory adds that Yoshen ’ s support throughout the day played a big part in his great run . “ Shame , he had a really tough day seconding me at five points along the route , but he was still so positive and encouraging . They tell you that it ’ s more difficult to be a seconder at Comrades than a runner , because you sit in traffic , and you miss turnoffs , but he said it wasn ’ t as bad as he was expecting it to be , and could keep up with me all the way through . He never missed a meeting spot , so he did really well . And most importantly , he had more food for me ! I had packed a whole bag of stuff … baked potatoes , bananas , sandwiches and more .
I just opened the dishes and grabbed food . I was stuffing food in my mouth like a savage , but that ’ s just one of the things we do on race day .”
On that nutritional note , Rory says he thinks he has cracked the Comrades code now . “ Now that I look back , I wasn ’ t eating on the previous ones . Last year , I think I ate something at 2am , and then again after 30km , and by then , you ’ re already on the minus side of things , and it ’ s impossible to come back up again once your body has hit that low . And I was thinking if I just keep on having energy drinks , I ’ ll be fine , because I don ’ t feel like eating . No wonder I felt so terrible ! This year , I took food with me into the holding pen at the start , and kept eating , and that made the difference . The trick for me now is to just run to finish – don ’ t worry about any sub-nonsense – and eat every hour on the hour .”
Going On Air
While his athletic ability is likely never going to bring Rory fame and fortune , he has made a name for himself as one of the funniest runners in SA . When he ’ s not working as a programme director behind the scenes at East Coast Radio , he does stand up comedy and also regularly posts comedic commentary vids on social media platforms , and this has seen him build up a huge following … although he has ticked off a few cyclists along the way ( see final sidebar ).
Rory lives in Gillitts with his partner Yoshen and their two dogs , Benson and Pongo , and Rory admits that he absolutely dotes on his pups . “ Often when I am sitting at work , I miss them , and I think , ‘ I wonder what Benson and Pongo are doing … I wish I could go home to them .’ I literally can ’ t wait to get home to them every day , and I don ’ t think that people miss their kids as much as I miss my dogs !” says Rory . “ Oh , and funny story about them … When I get home from a morning run , they always lick my legs . I ’ m hot and tired and sweaty , and then those tongues go to work . I think they are saying , cool , Rory ’ s home with some lekker salt for us . It ’ s the grossest thing , but I love those two so much !”
Rory and Yoshen with their ‘ kids ,’ Pongo and Benson
After failing to finish in 2022 , the 2023 Comrades went so much better for Rory !
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