87 kilometers. 54 miles. Durban to Pietermaritzburg. The “Up” run.
A start of 5:30 am. A journey
with 18,000 other runners from all walks of life.
14,414.90 kilometers. 8,957
miles. Collegeville to Lekgwareng
Village. The PCV life. A start of July 8, 2011. A journey with 54 other Americans from the 50
nifty states.
On Sunday, June 2nd, I participated in the Comrades
Marathon. Comrades, an ultra marathon that
is famous in South Africa, had called my name from my very first day in South
Africa. I am a runner and this is the
ultimate running challenge. I had to
give it a go. What made me bite the
proverbial bullet after all this time?
Last year I was lucky enough to go and watch the race. As much as I enjoyed cheering on my family
friends Eddie, Cliff, and Tim, I wanted to be the one running. I wanted to be the one with pre-race jitters
and post-race soreness. I was green with
envy as they hobbled around the next day (strange, maybe, but runners will
understand)! Even after seeing the crowded
medical tent and zombie-like beings who came out at the finish, I decided this crazy
race was for me.
It’s interesting that Comrades fell right towards the end of my
service. With less than 100 days in
country, time is ticking. Being two back
to back marathons and then 2 more miles (still thinking like an American rather
than two 42’s and then 3 kilometers), Comrades resembled my Peace Corps Service
quite nicely – two years and two months.
While the first marathon/year went by rather slowly, sometimes feeling
like snail’s pace, the second marathon/year flew! Thanks to this convenient parallel, I’ve done
a lot of thinking on the two, and now a blog post.
Comrades, by far, was the most physically challenging event I’ve ever
put my body through. Some of my friends
thought I was nuts; one even said “Good luck.
You’re a moron.” Fair
enough. This year was an uphill run,
meaning I had the luxury of cresting Cowies Hill, Field’s Hill, Botha’s Hill,
Inchanga, and Polly Shorts (“The Big Five”).
Let me tell you, there was nothing “short” about those hills. Now, how does one prepare for such a race? Even more so, how does one prepare for such a
race in a village? Lucky for me, my
village knows I run, so there wasn’t anything new there. Before starting, I first wanted to get some of
the history on the race. I needed to be
invested for this. After all, I’d be
spending half of my day on the road. My
#1 supporter and South African Coach, Eddie Beddy, an accomplished Comrades
runner himself, gave me a book on Bruce Fordyce, who has won this race 9 consecutive
times and continues to run to this day.
I was hoping to catch a glimpse of him on the route, but he’s still
super fast. From reading his book, I
learned that Comrades played a big part in helping to end the Apartheid. I learned about the camaraderie on the
course. I learned about training. I learned about the course itself. I learned about “smart” racing. Most importantly, I learned the recipe for a
chocolate cake that Fordyce eats prior to every Comrades race (one his Mom
makes). As all of you know, if chocolate
AND running are involved, I’m in. Once I
was hooked, I began the training, physically and mentally. In preparation for Comrades, I ran countless
miles in my village (to the point that the taxi drivers using that route now
know me), I ran a few marathons and half marathons, and I did The Two Oceans
Marathon (another famous ultra of 56km or 35 miles…by far the most beautiful
run I’ve ever done). I even practiced
relaxation and visualization with yoga.
I was as ready as I’d ever be.
On the actual day of Comrades, I started off with my own comrades –
Cliff, Tim, Brad, and Hubble (and about 18,000 other odd runners). There were all shapes and sizes of
runners. A guy before us even wore a
rhino costume to raise awareness for rhino poaching (to his credit, he also
finished in the costume, sweltering I’m sure!).
Cliff, Tim, and Brad had dressed as Pirates, getting us some extra
support. I decided not to dress up,
although I did think of some Pirate jokes along the way, keeping myself
occupied and trying to contribute to the theme.
(What is a Pirate’s favorite type of movie? Rrrrrrr Rated! What is a Pirate’s favorite letter in the
alphabet? Rrrrrrr!) You’re probably rolling your eyes right about
now, thinking Rrrrrr you serious?
My legs were not happy with me as I urged them to move before the sun
rose. Nevertheless, I ran with a sea of
other runners, setting off for Pietermaritzburg. By mile 13, when I first spotted my NASCAR
Pit Crew (thanks Nick, Eddie, Sue, Kevin, and Briana), I had to back off of the
pace a bit. I still had some ground to
cover…I wanted to be smart. When Nick
offered me a Snickers Bar (my FAVE – peanut butter AND chocolate), my stomach
refused it. I was a bit nervous about
this, thinking that I needed to keep my energy levels up, but I charged
forward. Along the way I downed some
gummies, water, boiled potatoes with salt, Energade, bananas, and Pepsi to keep
me going. When I couldn’t finish something
I had taken, I gave it to the kids who had come out to watch. Waste not, want not. I even spotted some Americans sporting the
patriotic Red, White and Blue. I chatted
and made some new comrades, making the time go by. By the half way point, I was feeling
good. I was on pace for under 11 hours,
and I was doing my thing. Unfortunately,
my IPod didn’t enjoy the distance and decided to drop out of the race early,
and I had to go without for the rest of the way. A little bit after half way, I spotted
Eddie. Tim and Brad were with him, so we
continued on together. I was glad to
have some company again. When we got to
Nick, Kevin, and Briana they made sure to apply ample sunscreen. (Thanks guys, I’m sure I smelled really good!) Nick was even so kind as to call me beautiful
(and the award to best boyfriend goes to)!
After our brief hello, Brad, Tim, and I continued on. I was feeling good, and I was still keeping
pace until about 10 miles to go. All of
the sudden, I felt nauseous and my stomach was cramping. I could only manage to drink water. Every step that I took, especially on the
downhills, felt like my feet were breaking.
My pace had slipped. I knew I
could make it under the 12 hour cutoff, but unfortunately I would fall short of
my goal of sub-11 hours. I was still
thrilled knowing I would finish. With
less than a mile to go, the crowd support was unlike anything I had ever
seen. The pain subsided (temporarily)
and I ran through a tunnel of people.
Hearing Eddie and Kevin shout my name, I ran to the finish, finishing in
a time of 11 hours and 24 minutes.
Like I said previously, this is the most physically challenging thing
I’ve ever done. Am I glad that I did
it? Yes!
Would I do it again? Ask me in a
few weeks. It was such a special
experience for me. I was able to take
part in something that is so monumental in South Africa and so important to
this country. I was able to take part in
a race where all South Africans come together and for one day, everyone is a
runner. No differentiation is made
between black and white, or male and female, or old and young. Everyone is running Comrades and helping one
another get to the finish line. This is
how it should be.
When I think about it, I’m not sure if I would have been able to do this
race two years ago. Comrades took a lot
of physical strength, sure. But it also
took a lot of mental strength. I owe
this mental strength to my Peace Corps Service.
While Comrades was the most physically challenging event I’ve ever
partaken in, Peace Corps would have to be the most mentally challenging
experience I’ve gone through. This is
not to say it’s a bad thing. Not at
all. Just as I loved running Comrades,
I’ve loved my time in South Africa and I love Peace Corps. It just hasn’t always been easy. Again, am I glad that I did it? Yes AND yes!
Would I do it again? Maybe…once I
retire. Being away from family, friends
and familiarity has not been easy. While
I know they are only a phone call or whatsapp away, I miss them dearly. Going from 1st World to 3rd
World rather often is very difficult; it can be somewhat exhausting. One hour I’m using a shower and a flush
toilet, the next hour I’m peeing into a hole in the ground…literally. One day I’m surrounded by beautiful schools
with all of the resources you could dream of and the next I’m working in a
dilapidated building, using leftover yogurt containers to paint my map. One week I’m a face in the crowd, and the
next I’m mulungu or legkoa. I’ve had my Cowies
Hills and Polly Shorts that I’ve had to climb during the Peace Corps. I’ve felt like I couldn’t go another
step. I’ve had terrible stomach cramps
(both literally and figuratively). Just
like in Comrades, I kept moving forward.
That’s all you can do. With that
forward motion and determination, I’ve made it and I’ve accomplished a
lot. Even more, I’ve grown so much. I’ve learned a ton and I’ve met incredible
people who will stay with me forever. Just
like in Comrades, I’ve had great support.
Without it I couldn’t have accomplished what I have.
My older sister and brother-in-law gave me a magnet as part of my
going away gift. The magnet reads “Life
begins at the end of your comfort zone.” ~Neale Donald Walsch This magnet is on my mini-fridge and I look
at it every day to give me strength.
What it says is so true. In life,
you’ll have challenges. Don’t shy away
from them. Go after those challenges,
head on. It’s the challenges, the big
hills in life, which will make us stronger and better people once we’ve reached
the top. And guess what, what goes up
must go down. With challenges come
rewards and good times. Enjoy the
downhills, but don’t be afraid of the up.
**History on Comrades – The first Comrades Marathon took place on May
24th, 1921, “Empire Day.” The
race was proposed by Vic Clapham, a veteran of World War I. He thought of the idea in order to pay homage
to all of his own comrades that were lost during the Great War. Bruce Fordyce, the runner I spoke of earlier,
ran the race for years and years, winning a total of 9 consecutive runs, both
up and down. Each year the race switches
course. The up run is a total of 87 km,
from Durban to Pietermaritzburg while the down run is a total of 89 km, from
Pietermaritzburg to Durban. 1981 is notable
since Fordyce wore a Black Armband that year, protesting the Apartheid
Government’s involvement in the race (changing the date now to June 1st),
which had at this time secluded South Africa from athletic competition with any
other country. While this was a somewhat
risky move for Fordyce, it brought much attention to the corruption that was
taking place, leading South Africa just that much closer to a Democracy.**
Le Rata,
Meg :)
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