#LG_KevEd Comrades diary entry 1 – Benoni to Ballito
Palms are sweaty.
![](https://images.caxton.co.za/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2017/06/20170601_150852-Medium.jpg)
Knees weak, humidity is heavy…
We’re here!
Here being the North Coast of KZN, Ballito – our home base for the next three days ahead of the most renowned race in South Africa.
What started with a video interview at Benoni High School with three-time Comrades Marathon winner and women’s down run record holder, Frith van der Merwe, yesterday (May 31), has seen us drive 600km with one goal in mind: To give you a unique angle of coverage of the oldest ultra-marathon in the world.
Let us take you on the #LG_KevEd Comrades journey…
East Rand represent!
Yesterday’s Q&A with a legend:
https://benonicitytimes.co.za/296877/frith-van-der-merwe-talks-comrades-benoni-lg_keved/
And so it begins…
The cool thing about driving down to KwaZulu-Natal at Comrades time is that you cannot help but to bump into runners from far and wide.
Just like Dirk Lourens from Herolds Bay, in the Western Cape, who we bumped into at a garage in Villiers.
The runner has his sights set on a rather ambitious target:
A road trip is not a road trip without a bit of argy-bargy in the car:
#Kev_Ed also struggled to accept the impecous taste in hip-hop music that #LG was blasting throughout the trip.
Eventually we found ourselves at Comrades House, in Pietermaritzburg, where we learnt some history of the famous marathon and saw a familiar face:
And, would you believe, bananas are not in short supply on race day.
In fact, all of these are in abundance:
Nine tons of bananas?
Eight tons of oranges?
What is this?
King Louis’s Kingdom?
We also stumbled upon some great advice:
Now, time for a cold beverage and a bit of rest in the most humid room on the planet (SOS!!).
Until tomorrow, have a good one, comrades.
Oh ja…
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Also READ:
Benonians dominate the Comrades down run