Tag Archive for ‘polly shortts’ at Comrades Marathon Blog

Tag Archive for 'polly shortts'

The Comrades Hills

Published
by
Andrew
on 12 June, 2008
in Comrades
.

Cowies, Fields, Botha’s, Inchanga, Polly Shortts. They call them the Big 5. So what are these hills like? The Comrades website, has a good description of them, but it’s quite difficult to read. For your pleasure, I’ve copied it below:

ROUTE DESCRIPTION THE "UP RUN"
THE BIG FIVE

The start for the up run is at sea level in the centre of the harbour city of Durban, and finishes in Pietermaritzburg at an altitude of 650 m. On the way runners encounter 5 major hills, popularly known as the “Big Five” which are briefly described in the following narrative, interspersed with other landmarks and points of interest.

Almost directly from the start outside the Durban Post Office, the ascent to Pietermaritzburg begins with a steady climb up Berea Road to the summit at Tollgate, where today there is neither toll nor gate. After a brief descent another climb takes the runners to 45th Cutting, so named after the British 45th Regiment of Foot ( Sherwood Foresters ) who constructed the cutting while stationed in Natal from 1843 to 1859. The first of the “Big Five” Cowies Hill is the next landmark of note.

COWIES HILL

Coming up from Durban, Cowies is encountered approximately 14 km from the start and is a moderately difficult climb rising about 137 m in the space of 1,5 km. Although this does not sound too difficult an obstacle so early in the race, the preceding 14 km is a relentless ascent, to an altitude of nearly 300 m at Westville, which warrants its inclusion in the “Big Five”

FIELDS HILL

After the descent from Cowies Hill and the easy flat section of Pinetown’s Old Main Road, this hill (namely after an early pioneer) is approximately 22km from Durban and rises some 213m over a distance of 3km. It offers a foretaste of things to come.

BOTHA’S HILL

After breasting the crest of Field’s Hill some respite is offered by an undulating but reasonably flat section to the village of Hillcrest. After a short descent from Hillcrest, Botha’s Hill offers another challenge with a somewhat lesser altitude rise of some ± 150 m, and covering a distance of 2,4 km, but is nevertheless taxing. At the top of this hill lies a landmark well known to all veteran Comrades runners in the form of the boys of Kearsney College who have gathered in numbers outside the famous school’s gates since the beginning of Comrade’s long history, providing much appreciated support to the weary runners. Their vociferous and enthusiastic support together with refreshments and any other assistance needed has helped lift the flagging spirit of many a runner and encapsulates the school motto Carpe Diem.

In the 7 km stretch from the top of Botha’s to the halfway mark, there is a fairly steep but short descent known as Alverstone, which is recognisable by the radio and TV transmitting mast clearly visible on the left.

At the end of the flat section after the sharp descent, runners encounter the Wall of Honour on the right hand side of the road, overlooking the Valley of 1000 Hills. This wall was created as a permanent landmark to honour the achievements of runners who have completed the epic journey between the two cities.

Just round the corner, through the cutting is Arthur’s Seat  a niche cut into the cutting wall, which legend tells us was the spot where the famous Arthur Newton, 5 times winner of the 1920’s, used to sit for a breather while out running. Today runners are urged to pay homage to Mr. Newton with a greeting and a flower, which legend has it, ensures a great second half of the race.

A couple of 100 metres beyond this lies Drummond which marks halfway, and is immediately followed by the fourth “Big Five” hill, Inchanga

INCHANGA

Immediately after reaching the welcome milestone of the halfway mark, runners are confronted with this monster. It winds relentlessly for 2,5 km and also rises some 150 m in altitude, but at this stage of the race seems far more difficult than the preceding hills.

The descent of some 2 km is more gentle and is a welcome relief. The bottom of the Inchanga descent is marked by Mayats Store on the right.

The route now follows a generally flat and slightly undulating landscape through the tiny villages of Cato Ridge and Camperdown and passing the Ethembeni School for Handicapped Children who line the route with enthusiastic support for the runners. Harrison Flats lies just before Cato Ridge and is an uninspiring flat section of approx 2,5 km, which to the leg-weary runner seems endless.

Approximately 19 km from Pietermaritzburg is the highest point on the route ( 870 m) at a point known as Umlaas Road. This point is unremarkable as is not reached by any noticeable hill, and is largely unnoticed by most runners. A landmark is a concrete water tower which is visible on the other side of the freeway which passes near the route on the right at that point.

POLLY SHORTTS

This is the ultimate in heartbreak hills. It lies in wait 80 km away from Durban and is often the make or break point for even the top contenders. The climb is 1,8 km in length with the summit at an altitude of 737 m, (a rise of nearly 100 m) and while this is 133 m less than the highest point on the course, it is a formidable obstacle to any runner with two back-to-back standard marathons behind him.

Comrades Route Description

Published
by
Andrew
on 30 May, 2008
in Comrades and Races
.

From a 2004 Press Release:

Organisers have confirmed that the exact distance of the 2004 Comrades Marathon to be run on Wednesday, 16 June is 86.75km. The race will finish for the first time at The Oval in Alexandra Park, Pietermaritzburg and will be approximately 600m longer than the last ‘Up Run’ held in 2002.

The Comrades Marathon ‘Up Run’ is by no means a race for the faint-hearted. Known as “The Ultimate Human Race” it consists of 54km of energy-sapping uphill running and provides an ultimate tests of human endurance. Many  runners  claim  to  prefer  the  ‘Up Run’  over  the  ‘Down Run’, while  logic  dictates  that when  all  else  fails, gravity will pull you downhill, while only sheer guts and flagging energy reserves can power a runner uphill in the final stages of a Comrades Marathon ‘Up Run’.

The start for the ‘Up Run’ is at sea level on West Street, Durban adjacent to the picturesque City Hall. At 05h30 in the morning it is dark and cool. The finish is 86.75km away in Pietermaritzburg at an altitude of 605m. But in order to get there runners will climb a total of 1,778m over undulating terrain, only reaching the highest point on the route which is 824m at approximately 67km.

Along  the  way  runners  encounter  five  major  hills,  popularly  known  as  the  “Big  Five”.  The  first  of  these  is encountered approximately 14km from the start – Cowies Hill, a moderately difficult climb, rising approximately 137m over a distance of 1.5km.

Runners reach the next major climb – Field’s Hill at approximately 25km. Field’s Hill is considerably taxing, rising 213m over a distance of 3km, on bad camber. It offers a foretaste of things to come and is generally the stage at which a somber mood descends upon runners.

Botha’s  Hill  offers  the  third  serious  challenge  with  a  somewhat  lesser  altitude  rise  of  approx  150m  over  a distance of 2,4km, but is nonetheless taxing. It is followed by a relatively pleasant 7km descent to the Pick ‘n Pay Half Way stage of the race.

No sooner do  runners pass  through  the Pick  ‘n Pay Half Way  than  they are  faced with  yet another  relentless climb,  that of  Inchanga, 150m over 2.5km. By no means a  formidable ascent on  its own, after 45km of mostly uphill running , Inchanga can be mind-blowing.

Once  Inchanga  is  crested  the  route  follows  generally  flat,  occasionally  undulating  stretches  of  road  for approximately  20km  before  gradually  climbing  up  to  the  highest  point  on  the  route  – Umlaas Road  824m  at approx  67km.  Thereafter  another  gentle  descent,  not  to mention  a  little  killer  hill  –  Little Mpusheni  –  which doesn’t even crack the Big Five.

Finally, the ultimate in Heartbreak Hills, the most infamous hill in road running – the wicked Polly Shortts. It lies in wait 80km  from  the start  in Durban and  is often  the make or break point  for novices and seasoned  runners alike, even the top contenders. The climb is 133m over a distance of 1.8km, a positively formidable obstacle to any runner with two back-to-back standard marathons behind them.

At the top of Pollys, it’s still not over, as runners still face two more small steep climbs up hills which do not even warrant names on the run in to the finish.

At some stage during a very long day, the temperature will probably have peaked at approximately 30 degrees. The  fastest  runner  will  reach  the  finish  in  just  under  5½  hours  at  approximately  11h00.  The  last  runner  to officially  finish will  reach The Oval  in Pietermartitzburg after dark at 17h30, as a winter evening chill descends upon the stadium. Twelve thousand runners will have started in Durban in the morning and approximately eleven thousand of them will reach the finish to be awarded medals for completing, “The Ultimate Human Race”.