Everything worth achieving needs a plan and most certainly if you want to finish the Comrades Marathon, you will need a plan. It is a highly prestigious target and will require a sound strategy. The risk of failure in such a highly publicised and televised event deters many would be contenders. It is not worth the risk, although tempted by the prestige of a finisher’s medal and the praise. Comrades is not for the fainthearted.
During training and over the race itself, it requires total commitment and dedication. Comrades always brings out the best and the worst in everyone. Something happens that reveals the hidden talent in many.
At the same time there are those less committed who will never achieve the goal. They will be offering excuses for failing to get their medal on race day. Many enter but do not start – about the same number as the bailers. Many of them would rather not face the day of reckoning; better to withdraw before the start than fail on the day.
Right about now, you are wondering if you have what it takes to finish Comrades.
Here we will spell it out, and if you think this is for you, we can guide you through the challenge. If you are excited about the chance of success and maybe slightly worried about a small risk of failure, you are ready to start.
At this stage it is a good idea to have a look at what is really involved in finishing the Comrades Marathon. The underlying requirements are sufficient time to allocate to the project and a lot of commitment to carry out the plan. Time and commitment are really all that you need. Each and every year the finishers are not all people of sporty or fine physical appearance. Maybe the top few hundred finishers are lean and mean running machines, but as the finishing time goes on, the runners crossing the finishing line look less and less like typical athletes.
Behind everyone finishing that race there is a very determined mind and a never-ending pool of resources to call on as the relentless day wears on. The finishers have trained themselves to believe in themselves. They have developed the ability to handle demanding situations on the course such as heat, hills and fatigue. Never do they consider giving up; Comrades runners have bad patches but never do they give up. They know their bodies and minds so well they weather the storm and sure as eggs are eggs they are soon feeling better again. It happened to them in training runs and in the build-up races earlier in the year. It is something they learned themselves, to go through bad patches. They did learn, and that is why they are crossing the finishing line at Comrades and collecting their coveted medal. They were entitled to it and they knew it all along.
The start of this journey is making the commitment to finish this journey.
The commitment
The commitment to run and finish Comrades requires a special dedication. The very first thing is to sign a commitment card.
The signed form must be kept where you can readily see it on a daily basis. It is a reminder of what you have committed yourself to.
The form must be viewed when any temptation makes you consider missing a scheduled training run or race.
The only conditions acceptable are sickness, which could precipitate a serious medical condition, or personal, family and work situations that require your undivided attention at those times. You must also show your friends, family and work colleagues the form you have signed. After their first amazement, they will fully support your ambition. Secretly, they will admire you, although, depending on your past sporting background, they might doubt your chances of success.
You will show them.