Tag: Ultra

Getting ready for Comrades: Ultramarathon books

Now that I have a clearly identified goal of Comrades 2010 in front of me, I surely need to get myself up-to-date on how to best prepare for that. Training plans, injury prevention, foot care, salts, energy gels, these are just some of the things which I want to know more about, and since I do not have a personal coach, books are the best friends.
So, after reading reviews, following discussions on the best ultramarathon references, I ordered the following books on ultramarathon running (or related aspects):

  • Lore of Running by Timothy Noakes
    Lore of Running gives you incomparable detail on physiology, training, racing, injuries, world-class athletes, and races.
  • Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-night Runner by Dean Karnazes (Read)
    “Ultra Marathon Man” is Dean Karnazes’ story: the mind-boggling adventures of his nonstop treks through the hell of Death Valley, the incomprehensible frigidity of the South Pole, and the breathtaking beauty of the mountains and canyons of the Sierra Nevada. Karnazes captures the euphoria and out-of-body highs of these adventures.
  • Running Through the Wall: Personal Encounters with the Ultramarathon by Neal Jamison (Read)
    What makes ultrarunners tick? What goes through their minds at mile 93? How can you train for such a colossal undertaking? An inspiring collection of 39 personal stories from ultramarathoners.
  • Ultrarunning: My Story by Mike Bouscaren (Read)
    There is nothing complicated about running. It is merely one foot in front of the other, the most basic mode of transportation. Yet run long enough and a transition takes place where running becomes rich with meaning and intuition. It is this road to spiritual insight that Mike Bouscaren pursues by doing races beyond the marathon, where oxygen comes hard, electrolytes deplete, and life is stripped down to real, true, honest, simple meaning.
  • A Step Beyond: A Definitive Guide to Ultrarunning by Don Allison (Currently Reading)
    a comprehensive compendium on ultrarunning, this guide provides an exhaustive range of information for everyone who wants to learn about ultrarunning, train for their first ultramarathon, or improve upon their last.
  • Fixing Your Feet: Prevention and Treatments for Athletes by John Vonhof
    From heels to toes, products to pathology, resources to rehabilitation, this book has it all. An essential guide… — Runner’s World, July, 2000

As always, I got most of these from firstandsecond.com, for the first time a book from flipkart.com, and for the first time books from amazon.com (which were not available through any of the Indian online book stores).

A couple of more books which are in my to-buy list are as below:

I have some travel coming up in the next few days, so will just sit back and enjoy my time.

Comrades marathon: Indian participation (or lack of)

It was an interesting thought which I got today, to find out about any previous Indian and international participants at Comrades over the last few years. It was not as straightforward to find this data, but with some quick Google searches, I was able to retrieve what I was looking for.

Comrades 2000 (biggest one in years, 24552 runners)
Comrades 2001 (15363 runners)
Comrades 2002 (12167 runners)
Comrades 2003 (13373 runners)
Comrades 2004 (12059 runners)
Comrades 2005 (13899 runners)
Comrades 2006 (12066 runners)
Comrades 2007 (12006 runners)
Comrades 2008 (11189 runners)

Result: Not a single Indian since 2000. That’s very disappointing to say the least. (Update: 2009: There will be exactly one runner from India at Comrades! All the best, Amit)

The biggest chunk of International runners seem to be from Australia, Brazil, England, Switzerland, Germany, United States, and of course the neighbors Zimbabwe.

So, what could be the reason for no Indian runners at Comrades.

  1. Lack of Indian ultra runners: India does not have many regular Ultra runners. Probably 5-6 names (maybe more less known runners), the biggest one arguably being Arun Bhardwaj, the ultra runner from Delhi. He regularly runs multi-day events through the year. Check this post from Shruthi on Indian ultra runners.
  2. Lack of ultra events in India: The two real ultra events which I have heard till now in India are The Himalayan 100 Mile Stage Race, and the 2 year old Bangalore ultramarathon. So, there is not a big enough platform to begin with. There is a new event on the horizon, the multi-day Great Indian Desert Run, so things are getting better.
  3. Awareness: not many regular marathon runners in India may have heard about Comrades. General lack of information and awareness about ultras.
  4. Logistics: South Africa is a more far-off destination compared to more convenient ones in Asia, particularly Singapore marathon, where there are hordes of runners from India. In fact, about 20+ runners went from Chennai alone in 2008 (Low cost airlines between Chennai-Singapore, like Tiger Airways help the cause too).

Add your thoughts on this subject in the comments. Would be interesting to get more perspectives on this topic. Have you run an ultramarathon, when and where?

Update for Comrades 2009: 12890 runners, a 17% increase over 2008.

Of the 12890 entrants, there are:-

  • 460 : International Runners – Men
  • 130 : International Runners – Woman
  • 2120 : South Africa Runners – Woman
  • 10180 : South Africa Runners – Men

From the 12890 entries 2404 runners are Novices (first time Comrades Marathon runners).

Comrades marathon 2010: I will be there

My last few weeks and months were spent in learning about ultramarathons, reading stuff over the net, getting some good books to understand what makes a runner go from running marathons to distances beyond that. I deliberated on running the Nov 15th Bangalore ultramarathon, but it really looked difficult to fit in with my other personal commitments.

So, I took the next available option, to run the world’s biggest ultramarathon – Comrades Marathon, which is an 89KM run on May 30th, 2010 in South Africa.

The Comrades Marathon is the world’s oldest and largest ultramarathon run over a distance of approximately 90 km (55.9 mi) between Pietermaritzburg and Durban. The direction of the race alternates each year between the up run starting from Durban and the down run starting from Pietermaritzburg. About 14,000 runners take part in the ultra every year. 2010 will be a special year on account of the Football World Cup in June, and the entries have been extended to 20,000 runners. It will also be the first time that the down run will be held in two consecutive years, 2009 and 2010.

(Photo courtesy crgdtn)

Finishers in the run receive different kinds of medals based on their positions and finish times as follows:

  • Gold Medals: First 10 men and first 10 women.
  • Wally Hayward Medals (Silver centred medal circled by gold ring) : 11th position to sub 6hrs 00min
  • Silver Medals: 6hrs 00min 01sec to sub 7hrs 30min.
  • Bill Rowan Medals (Bronze centred medal circled by silver ring) : 7hrs 30min to sub 9hrs 00min.
  • Bronze Medals: 9hrs 00min to sub 11hrs 00min.
  • Vic Clapham Medals (Copper Medal): 11hrs 00min to sub 12hrs 00min.
Comrades has an interesting tradition about the race closure after 12 hours, when the finish line is abruptly blocked the moment 12 hours of the run are up, leaving runners coming after that completely unrecognized, as if they were not even present in the run. This makes for quite a sight, as seen on this youtube Comrades countdown video (5 mins).
It is too early to set targets right now, but I have located two good training plans to get things rolling.

I have a request for any runners from India who may be considering running Comrades to get in touch with me. Having a running mate would be double the fun, and would really be additional motivation, and surely I need large doses of both to complete this goal in 2010.
Know more about Comrades marathon history, traditions, and results on the Wikipedia page here.

Interesting videos about Comrades:
Promo video for Comrades 2009 (5 mins)
Essence of Comrades video (10 mins)