So you thought 76 year old Clive Crawley was inspiring, take a read of this. One can only look up to Richard Whitehead, as he will be the first double amputee to attempt Comrades, and will make history if he finishes it.
I remember when he ran the 56km Two Oceans here, and I was in awe of that achievement, but this is simply outstanding. Aiming for under 10 hours is extremely ambitious as well, I think it will be an achievement to simply finish.
So that’s one more to keep an eye out for on Sunday morning.
For the non South African visitors, South Africa is currently experiencing a nationwide strike by the civil servants. I won’t go into details here, but it has being going on for a week now, and has caused serious disruptions throughout the country, mainly in schools and hospitals.
What does this have to do with the Comrades Marathon? Well I’ve just read that the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union is considering calling an illegal countrywide strike, which would cause serious disruptions for the race, which happens this Sunday, the 17th.
While I sympathise for people wanting to earn a decent wage, I doubt that the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union are completely oblivious to the fact the Comrades is due to happen this weekend. I guess I just find it sad that for the second time, the Comrades finds itself stuck in political issues.
One can only hope that the “World’s Greatest Race” lives up to this name.
So while I’m blogging about my experiences to try and run my first Comrades Marathon, Clive Crawley is attempting to finish his 43rd. He’s had a knee injury, so has missed out the last few races, but at the age of 76, refuses to quit. He also has the honour of wearing No 1 as his race number. Come this time next week, we can only hope he finishes within the 12 hour cut off.
Runner’s world published an excellent article by Amby Burfoot, where he details his journey to completing the Comrades up run of 2006. It’s an excellent article, and he illustrates how lucky we South Africans are to have such a great race on our doorstep.
I have a Technorati watchlist for “Comrades Marathon” so that I can pick up when a blogger mentions the race. After the article, I’ve picked up a few bloggers who plan to run the race, some of them have even been inspired by Amby Burfoot’s article. Just a few to keep note of:
- The Traveling Ultra Runner - I’m very jealous, this runner has quit his job, and will be traveling the world, stopping off here, in South Africa, to run Comrades. He leaves on the 21st of May, so will be running this year.
- Michael’s “Crazy Idea” - Michael from Conversations with a Stone plans to run it in 2009, it’s it’s quite far off, but great to see the enthusiasm over the great race.
- I keep running - Scott plans to run in 2008, and has only just started training, so it should be interesting to see how he comes along.
- The Parvus Challenge - Chad also plans to run in 2008, after being challenged by his Dad to join his uncle in running his 30th Comrades.
So hopefully Scott and Chad will be able to join me in 2008, so good luck with the training guys and I look forward to seeing on the road!
Update: Tom Steiner is also planning to run Comrades in 2008. Follow his progress at here.
Recent Comments