The massive physical challenge of the Comrades Marathon is obvious. The endless kilometres, the pounding legs, the hills, and the hours on the road are all plainly visible. What is less obvious is the mental battle taking place alongside the physical one.

According to leading SA sports psychologist Dr Kirsten van Heerden, surviving Comrades is as much about managing the mind as it is about managing the body.

One segment at a time

The greatest mental danger during an ultramarathon is thinking too far ahead.

“ I would say the really tough part is not letting your mind time-travel too much and skip ahead because the thought of 90 kilometres can be overwhelming,” Van Heerden explains.

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For runners, the moment they begin calculating how much remains can quickly become mentally debilitating. Instead, the most effective runners break the race into manageable pieces.

“ The real skill involved is being able to really just take little segments of the race at a time,” she says.“ It might be the first 10 kilometres or just up this hill, depending on how tired you are.”

Van Heerden says this segmented approach should become part of training long before race day. During long runs, athletes can practise bringing their attention back to“ the next little segment”.

It is a strategy many runners unknowingly use already.

“ If you’ ve ever done something or gone for a run or walk and get tired and you think okay, let me just keep going until that tree but you get there and you think, okay actually I’ m alright, I can maybe just do another little bit.”

That process, repeated hundreds of times during Comrades, becomes the psychological engine that keeps runners moving forward.

The role of self-talk

When fatigue sets in, the conversations runners have with themselves become hugely important.“ This is where self-talk also becomes important because if you’ re saying:‘ Ugh, I’ m tired, I just want to stop’, your brain and body believe you.”

Van Heerden stresses that effective self-talk is not about pretending the suffering does not exist. Instead, it is about acknowledging the discomfort without surrendering to it.

“ You can fully acknowledge it, but you would rather want to switch to:‘ I’ m really tired, but I can go just a little bit more.’”

She compares it to becoming your own support system inside your head.

Photos by Tobias Ginsberg