Boston tragedy will not deter the running fraternity
THE horrific ending to the Boston Marathon will have all runners re-examine their mortality.
It certainly offers an insight into how vulnerable we are, but it will never deter the quest for personal achievement and the joy that running offers.
The perpetrators may think they have made some vague point or other, but all they achieved was to take young lives, impact upon family units and make us determined to overcome.
The taming of the human spirit that prevails in runners of all calibres will not be smothered. The field at Boston 2014 will be even larger, The London Marathon on Sunday will go ahead and every runner who has entered will pitch, while our own 90km of the Comrades Marathon will be run and celebrated on June 2 regardless.
UP OR DOWN
The Comrades, run annually between Durban and Pietermaritzburg, is generally referred to as the Up or the Down Comrades – the direction being reversed year on year.
The connotation in most minds is that the up run is automatically more difficult than its down counterpart. This is however, a simplistic notion. Many factors determine which of the two races impacts most on a runner’s performance.
Bruce Fordyce is the greatest Comrades runner of all time, though some would argue in favour of Wally Hayward. Even Fordyce who won regularly in both directions will tell you that the up run was his favourite. His running style certainly suited the tough climbs.
Alan Robb, another legend and multiple winner of the race had a shuffling style that best suits the down run.
Even these observations can be misleading when results are examined and although my fastest Comrades was indeed a down run, and I prefer that direction, my up times were not that shabby by comparison – a fact I did not accept until going back into personal records.
What all this means is that the class of 2013, faced with an up run, should not pre-judge or pre- empt performance based solely on perceptions of style.
There are runners who may take a break from Comrades based on their preference and that is not a bad thing if they decide to race some other event as their focus for the year, but they could also be selling themselves short if Comrades is really in their heart. Think about it, but not too deeply.
SHORT, BUT SWEET
Many roadrunners have been overheard to say that they won’t do a parkrun because it is only 5km and “too short for us”. Well that is a point of view, albeit somewhat skewed.
It is well documented that the same Fordyce mentioned above is country manager for South Africa, while similarly the aforementioned Robb was in action at the new Woodlands parkrun in Sandton last week.
Our local runs are looked after by former Two Oceans and Comrades runners, while South Africa’s top female distance athlete over many years, Elana Meyer is set to launch a parkrun near Stellenbosch. Ten-time Comrades gold medallist Shaun Meiklejohn will be launching one in Hilton, KwaZulu-Natal.
That proves that those at the top of their game in distance running all support this fantastic initiative.