Comrades: A melting pot of cultures, personalities

File Photo: AFP

File Photo: AFP

Published May 28, 2016

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Durban - The vision statement of the Comrades Marathon is “to stage the biggest and best ultra-marathon in the world, striving to remain the most inclusive sporting event in South Africa”.

Sunday’s 91st edition of the 89km footrace between Pietermaritzburg and Durban offers another opportunity to live up to its dream.

While the Two Oceans competes strongly for the title “the best” in the world of ultra-marathons, there is little doubt that the Comrades is the biggest ultra on the planet and arguably the country’s most inclusive sporting event.

No other ultra-marathon comes close to a field of over 21 000 entrants. And while the gender balance of around 3.5 to 1 (males to females) and the apparent uncertainty about the inclusion of wheelchair competitors may raise some doubts over social inclusivity, the indicator of most common surnames in the race tells a different story.

With 115 Dlaminis, 94 Smiths, 92 Ndlovus, 80 Naidoos and 79 Bothas among the entries, the Comrades has become a melting pot of South African culture.

In addition, the 6 000 volunteers staffing 46 refreshment points along the route with 30 350 litres of cooldrink, 450 000 paper cups, 1.7 million water sachets, nine tons of bananas, eight tons of oranges and 21 000 energy bars, further support the vision. Quite simply, the Comrades could not be organised without them.

Not surprisingly, given the race’s roots, the United Kingdom heads the list of 86 nations with 307 entries, followed by 242 from the USA, 166 from Zimbabwe, 153 from Australia, 122 from Brazil and 97 from India.

All will be competing for a treasured Comrades finishers medal; gold to the top 10, a Wally Hayward for those finishing out of the top 10 and in under six hours, silver for a sub-7:30, Bill Rowan for a sub-9:00, bronze for sub-11:00 and a Vic Clapham for those making it to the finish inside the final hour. But the internationals are not just there to make up the numbers – several will be racing to win.

Among the men, Sweden’s Jonas Buud, Ethiopia’s Mohamed Hussein, Lesotho’s Mabuthile Lebopo and Teboho Sello and Zimbabweans Marko Mambo and Stephen Muzhingi appear to be the strongest contenders for the podium.

Mamabolo strongly tipped himself to repeat his 2012 victory at Friday’s media briefing in Durban, emphasising that he was the strong favourite to win and that no would be able to stay with his pace.

“Mamabolo is the name – if anyone is running ahead of me and hears that name, start shivering! I am the one who broke the foreign domination at Comrades. I’m not here to jog on Sunday. My management team indicated that what is need now is a flawless execution . That is what I plan to do on Sunday.”

His Nedbank teammate, Claude Moshiywa boasts a similar pedigree and appears equally well set.

But seldom is Comrades won at the media briefing, and the much more low profile Tom Tom team from Rustenberg had the look of the quiet assassin, as last year’s winner, Gift Kelehe, and former Two Oceans champion, David Gatebe, reflected that their training, too, had gone to plan.

“Ludwick has his plan and I have mine,” Kelehe said. “I’m not going to be influenced by any pace other than the one we have worked out. It has been a tough year as my wife lost our twins in pregnancy and I will be running for them on Sunday.”

While the intensity of the men’s race heats up, the women’s suffered a blow as 2014 champion and strong favourite Ellie Greenwood announced she had been forced to withdraw due to a hip injury.

Greenwood’s withdrawal has strengthened Caroline Wöstmann’s status as the favourite and she appeared confident and relaxed as her KPMG teammates Colleen de Reuck and Kerry Ann Marshall joined her on stage.

Weekend Argus

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