Comrades Marathon 2016 Review
Comrades Marathon review
Humble Beginnings
Comrades Marathon 2016
Originally funded by a loan of 1 pound by the League of Comrades of the Great War in 1921.
The Comrades Marathon is now in its 91st running and has become one of the world most iconic ultramarathons.
Its course extends between Pietermaritzburg and Durban in the south-east area of South AfricaAnd covers a distance of around 90km.
As part of the course, the runners will entertain 5 main climbs which are fondly referred to as the “Big Five”.
As you can tell from the profile map the main climbing is at the start followed by a fast descent down into the finish line.
Comrades Marathon 2016
Nine-time winner Bruce Fordyce has a simple explanation on the course
“Controlled running in the first half will be rewarded by an exciting second half.
Runners and Records
With over 21,000 competitors toeing the line in this years event, this a behemoth of a race.
The race record was held by Russian Leonid Shvetsov, set in 2007 in a time of 5hrs 20min and 49 seconds and by the end of the day this record along with some hearts would be broken.
Comrades Marathon Review
In a staggering time of 5hrs 18mins and 19 seconds David Gatebe shattered the record by over two minutes and beat the next finisher, 2012 champion Ludwick Mamabolo, by over 5 minutes.
Comrades Marathon review
The women's race was hotly contested, with South African Charne Bosman coming in at a winning time of 6hrs 25min and 55 seconds followed by Caroline Wostmann in 6hrs 30mins and 44seconds.
Charne was in second place until around the 87th km where she caught Caroline whose body was at the edge of collapse.It was a magnificent effort by both women and secured a clean sweep for South Africa in both the men and women's overall winners.
Locally we had something to cheer about within this huge field.
Comrades Marathon 2016
With over 60 runners from Australia competing, the best 22 are shown below.
Top Males:
Comrades Marathon Review
Absolute commitment from Brendan Davies, averaging sub 4-minute kms for 89km, secured him a top 20 finish at Comrades coming in at 19th overall. What a Legend!
Followed in by Andrew Tuckey at 6hrs 19 min and 57 secs in 58th, which is 4.25 km pace for the distance.
An absolutely fantastic result.
Top Women were: (Sorry no pics)
Kellie Epis in 08hrs 52 min 24 secs in 2469 and 187th women across the lineand Tymeka Warburton 08 hrs: 54mins 34 secs in 2572 and 201st women across the line.An Amazing effort by all the runners.
The Ultimate Human Race
Comrades Marathon Review
This event brings runners together from all walks of life.
From the first finisher, in 5hrs 18min, to the last at the cutoff of 12 hours.Each has overcome huge obstacles to achieve their goal.
And in the honour of those who fought for our freedom, we should all be thankful for the opportunity to run free.An Ultra race is always more than point A to point B.
It is a journey within yourself and one that always brings unknown strength to whoever except the challenge.
One year I will be there but for now I salute you all. Comrades !
All information of the race can be found at:
Cheers
Douglas
Douglas Fullcoursetrails