Former Greenwood Park resident to hit the Comrades road

MEET Wayne Spies, a former Greenwood Park resident now living in Brisbane, Australia, who is eagerly waiting to land in South Africa to run his 12th Comrades Marathon this year.

Also read: La Lucia resident to go from seconder to Comrades Marathon debut

Spies grew up in Durban and watched the Comrades Marathon from a young age. His dream was to one day run the Ultimate Human Race, which he did. Although he did not finish the race on his first attempt, it did not deter him from trying again.

“A few years later, I tried again and managed to do both an Up and Down Run and just make the cut-off with minutes to spare – and painfully walk away, vowing never to attempt it again,” said Spies.

He then married the love of his life, Bronwyn, and decided to immigrate to Australia in 2001. At this stage, he had stopped running as the focus had shifted to raising their two sons.

It wouldn’t be until 2013, when upon agreement with his family, Spies decided to return to South Africa to run the Comrades, this time a little older and wiser and with a much-improved performance over the distance.

“I became completely hooked and decided to return every year since with an awesome progression and improvement in my finish time and subsequently caught the eye of local elite Team Nedbank, resulting in me finishing last year’s run in a respectable 5:42,” he said.

“This year will be my 12th Comrades and hopefully a continuation of the awesome progression I’ve experienced,” added the silver medal winner.

He was privileged to receive an invitation to last year’s Chicago Marathon in early October where he qualified for Comrades in a time of 2:29.

“My actual training block began in February this year under the watchful eye of my inspiring South African Guru Coach, Dave Adams from Rustenberg, who coincidentally is the coach to reigning champions, Tete Dijane and Up Run winner Edward Mothibi. Also being a part of a group of Nedbank runners, known as the Happy Bunch, who are no strangers to success at the Comrades Marathon,” he added.

Spies believes the most important aspect of success in Comrades is preparing mentally for the gruelling journey ahead which is paramount to success. He says there is no magic pill or secret except pure hard work, discipline and commitment to succeed.

When it comes to diet, he follows a low-carb, high-fat diet during the build-up and specifically trains his body to become a fat-burning machine to ensure he can last the duration of the race.

“On the day, we will have Team Nedbank provide a seconding table at regular intervals throughout the race to ensure we receive the vital nutrients needed for success throughout the race,” he added.

Also read: uMhlanga Comrades runner trains the pain away

Interestingly, he says that the Comrades magic is on the rise in Australia with more and more ultrarunners wanting to make the journey to the Ultimate Human Race even though, surprisingly, most Australians consider the marathon distance of 42.2km as the pinnacle of road running – that is until they hear about the rich Comrades history and the magical atmosphere it possesses.

“Road running is definitely growing with several major city marathons reaching peak numbers, and Sydney recently becoming a candidate for the World Marathon Majors, but in my opinion, there simply is no race in Australia that comes close to the Comrades Marathon,” added Spies.

His personal goal is to again break the sub-six-hour mark.

“I’ve always made it a goal to keep working towards. A few years ago, I became an ambassador for World Vision South Africa, running the race and raising funds towards a worthy charity. I hope that my story will influence someone to believe that nothing’s impossible until it’s done,” he added.

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