Abstract: Henning van Aswegen, Comrades Marathon, Anglo-Boer War, First World War.
Sgt. Vic Clapham, founder of the Comrades Marathon, 1921
The oldest ultra-marathon in the World, the Comrades Marathon, founded by Sergeant Vic Clapham in 1921, will be run for the 98th time on June 8 this year. Inspired by his participation in both the Anglo-Boer War and the First World War (as an ambulance driver), Sgt. Vic Clapham initiated an ultra-distance race to honour South African soldiers who died in the two wars. His motive for doing so was laudably unselfish and altruistic – he told anyone that would listen that he did not want the world to forget the sacrifice and honour of his fallen comrades-in-arms.
The first Comrades Marathon was run in blistering heat on 24 May 1921, and 48 hardy souls summoned the courage to enter the race. On race day morning only 34 brevehearts started the race, and by the end of this epic day only sixteen survived to cross the finish line. The 56-mile marathon stated in front of the City Hall in Pietermartizburg, ran through the Valley of a Thousand Hills and finished in Durban.
Since that day, South Africans have loved long distances and endurance events. Visitors to South Africa often remark on how many long-distance events and marathons we have – a compliment from our point of view. South Africans are a tough lot and none more so than the ultimate warriors of the long day, Comrades runners and Ironman triathletes. South Africa’s first Ironman was held in 1983 at Hartebeestpoortdam – more than sixty after than the first epic Comrades Marathon.
But which one is tougher to complete? Which one of these two iconic events is the real test of character, of fitness, vasbyt and endurance, of blood and guts and glory and all the lovely characteristics we associate with the these two ultimate endurance events?
Every Comrades finisher is regarded with respect and admiration by his or her friends, family, colleagues at work. Every Comrades survivor a hero for having endured the pain, the longest day one can imagine and a thousand hills through the valleys of Kwazulu Natal, and thereby honouring the fallen soldiers of the Anglo-Boer War and the First World War. A Comrades medal means more than any other sporting medal in this country, it is the one thing that you can not buy. Try offering a Comrades runner money for his or her medal and see if you get any takers. No chance. Comrades is a sporting and cultural phenomenon, an event more than a race. Caomrades is embedded in our psyche because of its rich history, its traditions and the glory it bestows on each warrior that finishes the 90 km journey.
Comrades is world famous and more than a thousand foreign athletes participate each year, each one hoping to earn one of the most coveted accolades in world sport. The race is a monster of pain and suffering; a mammoth test of endurance and stamina because of the distance and the conditions on the day. But so is Ironman, a 3.8 km open water swim, followed by 180 km on a bike and a 42 km marathon. Perhaps a mere jog compared to Comrades.
Conditions make the race
I had the privilege of meeting Valerie Silk, legendary organizer of the Hawaii Ironman in Kailua Kona in 1985, who remarked during our conversation that it is not the distances but the conditions that made Ironman so difficult. German Lothar Leder won the last Isuzu Ironman in Gordon’s Bay in 2001 in atrocious conditions, with many triathletes describing it as “a day from hell” after they were pummeled by giant waves in the swim, gale force winds on the bike, and having their legs sand-blasted on the run. Ironman race organizers were still looking for their swim buoys the day after the race and horror stories of triathletes being blown off their bikes were in abundance.
“Vasbyt” never had more meaning for two American participants (the one finished, the other blown off her bike), who described the South African Ironman as one of the most beautiful in the world, but also one the toughest, together with the Embruin Ironman in Spain.
And what about Nice, on the Southern tip of France near Monaco on the Italian border? The erstwhile Nice Ultra World Triathlon Championships features a 180 km bike ride in the Alps with more Grade 4 climbs than any other triathlon on the planet. It ties your quads in knots before the halfway mark and forces you out of the saddle for most of the day. My limited range of French swear words never came in so handy on that murderous day.
Comparing running times
Vladimir Kotov, three times Comrades winner, reckons that a down (PMB-Durban) Comrades winner must be able to run 3:15 minute kays in the last fifteen kilometers of the race, that is from 75 km onwards. The fastest marathon time recorded in the Gordon’s Bay Ironmnan belonged to Spaniard Felix Martinez with a pedestrian four-minute kay average.
Comrades demands back-to-back marathons and then some: Ironman the ability to float, pedal and run with immeasurable stamina. What about rubber legs after six hours on a bike? What about the terrible 95 kms per hour winds on the run, in the dark and cold, trying to beat the 17-hour cut-off time before midnight? Comrades burns your legs and sole and mind to a point that you question your own sanity and of those around you: the only motivation to keep you going your desire to be a Comrades finisher or an Ironman.
Images of an ancient Japanese competitor only just finishing before the 17-hour deadline in the Gordons Bay Ironman haunt me to this day. Is he a tougher competitor than Vusi Nhlapo, who breezes through Comrades in just over five and a half hours on the down run? Less talented –certainly, less dedicated in his training – definitely; but less tough, durable and iron-willed? I wonder ….
It takes everything you have
Comrades hurts, and Ironman fatigues. Comrades demands months of training to survive, Ironman mental toughness, endurance and a resolute belief in your own abilities to shake, rattle and roll all day long. Nobody really cramps on Ironman, nobody’s legs and muscles lock into iron-hard balls of fire, and nobody (expect Julie Moss in 1982 in Hawaii), crawls to the line in agony to make the cut-off time like we do in Comrades.
No, but I have seen grown men cry during the heat wave in the 1983 Rand Daily Mail / Leppin Ironman from Hartbeestpoortdam to Megawatt Park. I have seen triathletes sit next to the road on the Queen Kaahumanu Highway just outside Kailua Kona, staring at the steeple of the Mokuaikaua church, unable to move another meter after a grueling 180 km bike ride on the Queen Kaahumanu highway.
The Hawaii Ironman , the granddaddy of them all, has been called the world’s toughest endurance event. Held on Hawaii’s Big Island, the beautiful Wao Kele O Puna rainforest and the eerie Pa’chockchock lava fields can be as deceptive as Polly Shorts. Hawaii’s infamous trade winds can turn your bike ride to the turn-around point at Hawi into sheer terror. Running in a sauna of 34-degree heat on the 42 km last leg, humidity pushes your body to breaking point and does little for your confidence running the last ten kays in total darkness.
Comrades makes you humble
Comrades has been called all kinds of names, some less flattering during the run, but always complimentary afterwards. Some think it is easy – “just start jogging and stop when you get to Durban, drink a few beers along the way and eat every piece of boerewors on offer – you will be there in no time.” Yeah right. Maybe Ironman does demand a higher level of intelligence than Comrades. “How hard must I pump my wheels, how much sunscreen for the bike ride, which pair of sunglasses should I wear today, do you think my legs are shaved enough?”
There is nothing artificial about Comrades, it has no graces, no fanciness and no airs: it claims only to be a pure test of endurance and stamina and your will to finish, just you and your running shoes and the exaltation of a million spectators along the route.
So is Comrades tougher than Ironman or not? Still unsure? So, I offer a litmus test, the toughest of all tests for endurance events the world over, the one sure way of knowing for sure, a “vasbyt barometer” to distinguish between the dogs and puppies. Try this: the day after an Ironman or Comrades, go get onto a plane. Get up those steps on your own, without hanging onto the railings or the arm of a pretty air hostess who just wants to lend a hand. The answer is right there. The ones going up and forward did the Ironman, and those going up the steps backward finished a Comrades Marathon.
That leaves no doubt in my mind.
Ironman comes a close second, but the Natal classic wins the cigar.
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