Planning your trip
07 Nov 2009
5000 novices recruited to Comrades in just 27 hours is a figure that has startled not only the Comrades marathon association, but also many clubs and long term runners.

Combined with the 15,000 previous runners who forced an early entry in the final week of October, Comrades now has filled their total allocation of 20,000 for the 2010 down run. So what has that to do with the Post Net Weekend Witness Marathon and Half marathon? - Everything!

You see in 2008 this relatively fast two lap tour of the City of Choice attracted more Comrades qualifiers than any other race in the country. Over 900 runners used the Weekend Witness 42km to confirm their places in the Comrades and given the increase in Comrades entries this can be expected to rise to 1600 runners.

But- as they say in the adverts- that’s not all. This year’s Martizburg event is both a comrades (May30) and Two Oceans (3 April) qualifying race and so there is little question that the initial allocation of 2500 marathon places will be snapped up with similar speed to that of the a Comrades novice.

Similarly with a 11000 limit placed on the Two Oceans half marathon, and a registration uptake of over 1000 on the first day, a large contingent of novices can be expected to lodge their names in the Weekend Witness 21km event.

Given the above the very first part of this week’s training tip, may seem rather mundane or obvious, but if YOU want to run the Weekend Witness Marathon or Half Marathon then the tip is – Register NOW on line. The web site quietly opened this month and already there are close to 100 entries which is a twenty fifth of the expectations accounted for with four months remaining. There is every chance that entries will be overflowing long before race day.

Remember the lesson learnt by a number of potential Comrades yellow number runners who had expected to run their green number this year – you can have all the experience, do all the training, but if you ‘ain’t entered – you’re not running’

While on the subject of entries there are a few other logistics that need to be put in place at the same time that you enter a race, and here I refer to all the major events. The Weekend Witness on 28 February attracts runners from all other the country and more than a handful of international athletes. It’s one thing to enter a race but leaving your overnight accommodation or travel arrangements to the last minute can be disastrous.

Now is an excellent time for out-of-towners to book accommodation for 27 February for the Postnet race. Importantly this can also be used as a trial of the arrangements for Comrades on May30. However the trick may be to find rooms in the City of choice for 29 May. A number of guest houses and hotels are already fully booked and with 20,000 runners, and many with spouses, kids or supporters, finding a bed close to the start will shortly be akin to finding the veritable hen’s tooth.

It is only the extreme adrenalin junky or a masochist who wants to subject himself to the trials and tribulations, not to mention the early start, required to endure the energy-sapping, nerve destroying journey from Durban to Pietermaritzburg on the morning of Comrades 2010!

If you think planning the comrades’ travel is important, don’t leave the travel to Two Oceans any longer either. Flights are already at a premium for the Easter weekend. Few will forget the eruptions at Durban airport when Kulula decided to delay a Friday flight from Durban to Cape Town to Easter Saturday to arrive just after the first runners would be finishing the race! Plan and book travel, accommodation and car hire now. It will not be the first time there are no cars left in Cape Town airport.

In considering the choice of Pietermaritzburg hotel or guest house take into consideration your normal residence. For up country runners this is not as critical, but for Durbanites or other ‘Coasties’ it is important to select an abode in the low-lying areas of the city or in the city centre itself.

While there are many excellent Bed and Breakfasts and guest houses in Hilton, on Town Hill and even out towards Howick, spending a night at altitude (above 3000 feet) is doing no-one any favours if you come from the relative sea level.

Another consideration in the ideal world is to select a venue that is about 2-3km from the start. This is almost the ideal warm up distance for Comrades morning.

Although many runners consider Comrades to be so long that they will do their warm up after the gun, the reality is that when the gun goes the initial pace is so much faster than it should be, it is far better to do an easy warm up of 15 to 20 minutes at a really slow pace, just to handle the nerves and adrenalin levels.

In summary the Post Net Weekend Witness is not only one of the best courses to get a qualifier on, it is an optimal opportunity for all runners, and particularly those from out of town, to undergo a dress rehearsal of their preparation for the Comrades Race on 30 May.

Training may be important, but having the logistics in place is... Essential to your success!