Just over ten days later and hopefully the dust has settled on the treacherous route between KZN’s political capital and its tourist mecca. Indeed, as participants of The Ultimate Human Race, we’ve had adequate time to heal physically and otherwise; I had no blisters or damaged toenails this year.

What remains though, are the deep-set scars of disappointment, mainly for missing Plan A, in my case.

The Encrypted Dream

As depicted on the screenshot above, Plan A was to attempt a pace of 6:32/km for 90.184km. Had the plan worked, this should have given me a finish time of 09h49m, which would have meant a reduction of two hours from my two previous Comrades times.

The Distant Dream

Well, that was not to be! There are many factors that made the naive plan fail – too technical to dwell on right now. Coming in at 10h06m, I only managed to reduce my two previous times by 1h43m; the actual target missed by a moerse 17 minutes.

I was broken!

Well, that’s over now. As Tupac says, “Life goes on“. It’s time to move on to other things. Indeed, there was a time when I would never have thought I can survive 500m of running. So, I’ll celebrate my 10h06 like what I am, The Most Unlikely Runner. He whose mere presence on the road defies logic. Nothing about my build or frame is athletic (Ka fosta nje).

Except for my mind, maybe. Not only has my mind been toughened by childhood struggles, but also by the raw desire to be worth something. To rise from the obscurity of being a dismissable nobody to being a recognisable somebody. Today, when they tell my story they’ll say: “We don’t understand how he finished the first two editions, but we definitely don’t believe he did a 10h06. No, not him.”

I have proven to myself that I can drive at least one aspect of me to a specific goal if I crave it hard enough. And though I did not achieve my C18 Plan A, I would know exactly what to do to overcome it next year, but that is over now – gone. There is so much more to do with my running life than Comrades.

There’s still the Great Wall of China Marathon, the 100km Pharaonic Race across the hot arid Egyptian desert, the North Pole Marathon (among polar bears), and many other suicidal road races. Of course, my eyes are also set on completing all six Abbott World Marathon Majors. All these ahead of caring about getting my green number, hopefully before I die.

Exceptions for my return to Comrades will be, among others, the following:

• Pacing my wife to her first Comrades finish;
• Anniversary Editions, especially 95th and 100th; and
• Winning the damn thing in 2024. 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

Till next time, “Happy Running”!

“I am still a firm believer in the role of talent over hard work, but that’s a topic for another day.” – Thulani Mafalala, 15 September 2017.

There is a simple reason why I have maintained that I cannot die for any belief, and that is – I always change my mind… On the day in question, I was beyond certain that there is nothing one can do to perform beyond one’s natural ability at anything. I thought that training and practice merely serve to enhance on naturally inherent talent. This was further reinforced by all the time I spent practicing my golf swing, all in vain. Moer! That even includes professional lessons. Despite all that effort, there was no improvement to be seen. And so, it got cemented in my mind that no matter how hard I can work at anything, I can never go beyond my natural ability.

I was very wrong!

It was only when I read a chapter called “The 10,000-hour rule” in Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers that it dawned on me. Anything is possible, if you put in the right amount of effort into it. Bear in mind that before this, I had made peace with the fact that I’m a sub-finisher and there is nothing I can do about it. It took a few confidence boosters to help me believe that it’s possible. Yet the turning point was when I missed my sub-4 dream by 45 seconds that I started realising there was more to me than I cared to believe. From that day onward, all my energy was focused on proving a point – Thulani Mafalala is capable of running a sub-4 marathon.

Indeed, the stakes were raised and the challenge was no lighter than when I first attempted this madness. For a while, I was never sure whether to celebrate how far I had come, or to wallow in the misery of a missed target. I have to admit though, that I drew a lot of strength from the newly earned respect and recognition I got from my peers in the running circles. Every time someone complimented my effort, I smiled inside, believing more in the dream. And so, I took on a mission to chase this #sub4 target once more at the 2018 edition of the Johnson Crane Hire Marathon. I scooped up every piece of advice I could get from those who had walked this path ahead of me. I tried everything with vigour, dedication and commitment. I even completely went haywire when I registered more than 300 kilometres of mostly solo running in December. I mean, who in their right mind runs that much in December?

On the morning of 28th January 2018, I lined up with thousands of other runners just outside the Willowmore Park Cricket Stadium in sleepy Benoni. Three hours, fifty minutes and eleven seconds later (03:50:11), new life breathed into me 🙂 I was finally a genuine #sub4 runner. No disputed seconds!

I learned a lot about myself in the process. I realised that, in running, race day results are always a reflection of training effort – except on the odd occasion where the misfortune of injury strikes. I also learned that, if you pay attention, there is always someone with the right advice to assist. You just need the ability to discern genuine assistance from the other “stuff“. And so, as I sit here writing this piece, beaming from ear to ear – I can’t stop wondering what this means for my life in general. So far, it means that if I can stop wasting precious time on things I am not genuinely interested in, but instead dedicate lots of time and effort into things I am passionate about – like writing – I would finally find a well of peace beyond comprehension.

I am still The Most Unlikely Runner I have ever known.

“Nothing happens unless first a dream…”  – Carl Sandburg

The Dream…

The unlikely runner in me has always been grateful for the fact that my very first marathon attempt was 4:51. Heck! I didn’t even  know about the 5 hours cap when I signed up for that bit of adventure; I just wanted to challenge the distance. Before then, the furthest I had gone was 21.1km. For the few years that followed that lucky break, I cocooned myself in the comfort zone of sub-5 finishes.

Fast forward to 2017, two Comrades editions later, and suddenly I found myself itching for more out of running. Indeed, the successful attempt to pursue an F seeding for 2017 showed me that it is not impossible to dream about more. “I can try to #break4“, even if it’s just once. And so, a new madness had started.

The Effort… 

Having recently recovered from an annoying knee injury, I had to ease myself back into pace. The true test of my goal came on 30 September 2017 at the Clover Irene Spring Race where I managed to clock a time of 1:59:03 over 21.1km. I barely made it, but damn – it’s a sub-2 right! From here onward I tried to keep my training pace below 5’40” /km, including a successful solo sub-2 a week before the major event. The stage was set, there was no turning back.

The Stage…

The stage for my sub-4 attempt was the 32nd edition of the Huawei Venice Marathon. All references pointed to a 100% flat course, so I never bothered myself with any hill training. I just wanted speed. While I would have preferred my first international race to be a world major, entries for those are hard to get hold of; after all, everyone wants to do a major. Anyway, Venice is just too cute a city – damnit!

The Expo…

Any decent race holds an expo a few days before the actual event. This is where we collect our race packs, and get exposed to massive advertising campaigns by the race sponsors. Of course, the goodie bag is the highlight. Once you’ve collected your race pack –  the next stop is the goodie bag station. There, awaiting all runners was a cool technical t-shirt, other goodies and most importantly, a cold Bavaria beer. That went down very well…

The Big Day…
By the morning of race day we were still not certain how we were gonna get to the shuttle to the start, Stra – on the other side of town. We woke up very early and navigated the complex maze that is Venice by dark. At the Rialto water bus station we met a fellow runner on his way to the race, so we joined him for the +- 3km walk to the Tronchetto. Once there, we boarded a bus to the  start; what a long ride it was.

The Runners’ Tent…

Upon arrival at the start venue, there were a few interesting surprises. First there was the unisex changing tent where all runners gathered and changed into their running gear.

Then there was the sweet hot tea, served outside next to the start line. Very refreshing that tea was. Last, but not least, was the big South African representation – 24 in total.

South Africans in Venice…

For once, we were not separated by our artificial differences –  we were all South African runners.

Naviglio del Brenta

I got into my seeding pan on time and for the first time the race was very lonely. I couldn’t understand the announcements made in the local language. I laughed when they laughed and clapped when they clapped. 🙂 It was bloomin’ scenic though; the historic Villa Pisani on the left and a tranquil river on the right.

Beautiful!

The Race…

The gun went off, and as usual, we back runners just stood there waiting for something to happen. 🙂 Nothing happened. Once we finally got moving, I got into gear and found my pace – despite needing to speed up to make up for the lost minutes. My rhythm was disturbed by one instance where I needed to stop on the side and tie a loosened shoe lace. The route was as flat as a pancake, so I generally cruised at sub-4 pace. We started in a semi-rural part of the Venice Metropolitan. The people were very friendly, cheering throughout. The words that stuck out for the entire 42kms were “Ciao!”,  “Bravo!”, “Bellissimo!”, and “Bravissimo” – the latter being a special blend of bravo and bellissimo… 🙂

I had watched previous editions of the race on YouTube, so I pretty much knew what to expect. It was still surprising though that the water points were at 5km intervals and the water was served in 500ml bottles. OK – this is new! 

I have seen races in my life and this was a bargain. With each kilometre, sub-4 seemed real. Past a few mainland suburbs, into Parco San Giuliano and eventually across the big bridge which connects the mainland to ancient Venice. Oh, what an experience! 🙂 Once on the island, I could no longer tolerate the heat of the arm sleeves. I ripped them off and shoved them in my pockets. Time was no longer my friend, I had to run. I raced my heart out chasing my target. Passing San Marco with the sub-4 bus well out of my reach, I hoped they may be ahead of target, which would give me a shot at survival. It was not to be. As I turned out of St Marks Square, my watch indicated 42.2km and the end was nowhere near. I killed the watch and stepped on the throttle. I sadly remember hearing a voice over the PA system that the race had passed 4 hours. My heart sank, I barely dragged myself across the finish line at 04:00:45. I was basically 46 seconds late for my target.

For a little while I was pleased to see that the official race certificate registered my  actual (mat-to-mat) time as 03:57:52. A short-lived pleasure until I realised that Comrades only recognises gun-to-mat (04:00:45).

In the end…

In the end, I didn’t get my sub-4; at least not one recognised by Comrades. What I got out this experience though, is that I am capable of much more than I had settled for over the last few years.

And so, life goes on…

The event allocates 20,000 slots, and every year all of them get gobbled up by runners craving that whiff of glory! 🙂 I am not aware if there is an edition of the race where all 20,000 entrants have showed up on race day, but I doubt so. What is an established fact though is that the percentage of finishers is quite lower than the number of starters. This piece attempts to fit together that puzzle of why this is the case.

Finishing Comrades is considered a prestigious honour. I have even heard people who hold the view that one is not a runner until one completes the race; I will not risk an opinion in this regard – no comment. It is that status attached to the race then that leads people into all sorts of undue pressure.

Readiness

While there are many people who take up running without Comrades as one of their ambitions, it doesn’t take long once one mixes with the running crowd to catch the bug and become a Comr-addict. In the spirit of excitement and sometimes well-meaning, but misguided advice, one may jump onto the Comrades way too early for their personal abilities. While I am not in a position to offer expert advice on reliable measures to be used to check readiness, I can only relate what I did to check my own readiness. I insisted on running every marathon and ultra available between Oct and May, and for each of these I pushed myself to move as far away from the base qualifying time as possible. It’s not a silver bullet, but if it ever helps you, credit me. 🙂

Group Pressure

We also can’t rule out the possibility that one belongs to a body/grouping that preaches and promotes excellence, and such excellence may subtly [but informally] be measured in things such as the furthest distance one has completed or even the fastest time one has completed the distance. While this kind of pressure may not be the official position of a grouping, constant references to the successes of the “best performers” may drive one to chase unrealistic goals in the name “improving yourself”. The key here is knowing yourself, being realistic to your limitations, and working with your abilities. If it happens naturally that you are fast runner, enjoy the benefits. Yet, if even after putting in all your best effort into training, the best you can produce is a sub-finish result – work with it, own it. I am still a firm believer in the role of talent over hard work, but that’s a topic for another day.

Own your race!

Back to the 20,000 entrants. The reality of varying abilities is reflected in how the race organisers recognise the efforts of the participants. The race has six medal categories as follows:

The table above has been extracted directly from the Comrades website and has not been modified.

For me, these categories distinguish the varying talent levels. These also differentiate professional runners from social runners. I am a social runner. To me that means, finishing within the cut-off time of 12 hours is more important than the colour of my medal. Indeed, I have witnessed people who felt cut-up for missing a Silver and getting a Bill Rowan instead. Damn, I never even allow myself to dream about Bill Rowan 🙂 🙂 🙂

At the end of the day, you face that road alone. Chase your own targets. Run for yourself. If you are faster than most of your peers, good for you. It is not your business to ridicule their efforts and limitations. If you are slower than most of the crowd, remember, you chose this life – make the best of what your abilities allow.

Till next time, Happy Running! 🙂

“I do not regret the things I’ve done, but those I did not do.”

While this quote is attributed to one Rory Cochrane, I believe there are many other variations that carry the same sentiment; i.e. if you don’t try something, you can never know what the outcome would have been.

Regret…

One of my biggest regrets, since I took up social running as a hobby, is missing out on the 90^th edition of the great Comrades Marathon. To this day I am unable to explain to myself why I was so terrified of this race all along. This, despite all the encouragement from fellow runners who had conquered this beast before me. I mean, now that I have tried it twice, and successfully completed it within my target time on both occasions, I cannot understand why I was so chicken back in 2015. After all, I do not believe I was any less ready for that 90^th edition than I was for the last two years’ editions.

Cowardice…

In this context, cowardice points to the unfounded and unreasonable fear to try out something new. You see, there are those things that you don’t want to do because you don’t find them appealing. And then, there are those things that you really want, but are too chicken to try. This, is the problem! Cowardice only leaves one with a long list of unfulfilled wishes, and a heart full of regrets. I know with certainty that I wanted to do Comrades, but I kept entertaining excuses such as: “I will do my first Comrades in 2019 when I turn 40…”. This is a shame because I had already qualified more than once; the foundation was laid. I readily admit that finishing Comrades takes more than just qualifying, but damn, I should have tried…

Fear…

Fear is a necessary part of our lives. It is our inbuilt airbag designed to cushion us against harm; whether self-inflicted or otherwise. In that sense, fear is good for alerting you to danger, but it should never be allowed to suppress one’s desired to “go beyond the wall“. Fear should just drive one to train hard, learn more about what the race involves, and many other things required to finish. That is how one harvests the power of fear in a positive manner.

And so, from this day forth, let it be that if I do not do something – it must be because I don’t want to do it and not because I am hiding in the shadow of fear, cowardice and regret.

The Fluke…

My Comrades 2016 finish was a complete fluke! Just like me becoming a runner was accidental, my finishing Comrades Marathon successfully, on first attempt, was purely accidental. You see, all along the plan was that I will only run my first Comrades in 2019, when I turn 40. The only target I had planned for 2016 was to take a chance at tackling Two Oceans Marathon. Even there, my goal was a humble 06h50m, nothing fancy, a just-in-time finish. So, it came as a complete shock to me when I crossed the line at 06h33m49s. The shock came from how fresh I was feeling. I felt as if I could go for another 30kms with ease.

Suddenly, my mind was entertaining very weird thoughts. Out of the blue, I was tempted to take a shot a this Comrades thing. The plan was sneaky; i.e. clandestinely find an entry, run and if it works – cool, else never tell anyone I tried. Hahaha! This proved more difficult than I thought. You see, we were now on 01 April 2016, the opening day of the substitution window period. Substitution is the official process where people [deliberately avoiding saying runners] with Comrades entries, are allowed to sell/give away their entries. I needed help with securing an entry, and the moment I told one soul about my weird fantasy, it was no longer a secret. A longtime close friend listed my wish on a running group on Facebook, and within a short space of time, I had an entry – 100% free. I couldn’t believe it! OK, what next? Well, I spoke to my wife about my crazy idea. She, being a road addict couldn’t say no to the idea of a getaway. 🙂

And so, my Comrades 2016 was a reality. Suddenly here am I in the first week of April 2016, training for Comrades when I had not set out to from the beginning of the year. Was I still on time to catch up on the mileage? Hehehe! Boy, did I read up on Comrades – anything with the word Comrades was consumed by my eyes. I attended every novice seminar I could find.

Before I knew it, it was race day – 29 May 2016! There I was at the starting line – G seeding, with no race plan whatsoever. The universe ever being such a cool parent, sent a solution. As I was sitting on that cold Pietermaritzburg tarmac, there came my former boss, a multiple Comrades finisher. Fortunately, I had done my first ever full marathon with him, so I knew he’s a disciplined, scientific runner. “This is very good!” – I whispered to myself with a big smile.

To cut a long story short – with his guidance, and my wife’s [and 2 sons] unwavering support I made it across the finish line in 11h49m33s. Nothing fancy at all, but I still exceeded my humble goal of 11:59:59 finish. 🙂

Fast forward to 2017…

And so the Back-to-Back dream was born. From that day on, I was consumed by the mission to complete the cycle. I had done the down-run, I needed to follow it with an up-run in order to close my Comrades journey. Within days of running the 2016 91st edition, the dates for 2017 were announced.

I clearly remember that I took only a few days rest, and by the following weekend I was running a 21km race. It would be a long year to that 04th June 2017. Testing various shoes, trying out different running styles, and exploring weird supplements. One thing I always seem to get right is setting realistic goals. I was very scared of the idea of an up-run, so I kept my goal simple – 11:59:59!

Race day came and I lined up with all the fellow nutters who braved the chilly morning. Once again, no specific plan, no partner – just crazy me. The gun went off and,… Nothing! Us back-seeders only move after the gun-smoke has cleared. 🙂 Anyway, I finally got my chance to cross the start mat about 5 minutes after gun. It was a grueling journey, but 11h49m22s later I crossed the finish line.

After collecting my two medals, I started thinking, “How did this happen?” – I asked myself. “How did someone who came here without doing a single hill repeat finish an up-run?”. And so, as I sit on this bed, smiling to myself, I still wonder – “How did I, the least athletic person I know, ever finish two editions of Comrades consecutively?”.

The mystery continues…