‘Its all about finishing the race,’ say Riverlea runners

The Comrades Marathon will be held on June 10 and athletics from all over the country will take on this year’s down run from Pietermaritzburg to Durban. Two locals, Gregory Mackett (59) who is affiliated to the Mercury Athletics Club and Willie van Heerden (54) from Pegasus Athletics Club, have been part of the race for many years and they shared their experiences.

According to the two, under thirty runners from our community will be participating in the marathon this year. Van Heerden has 12 races under his belt and Mackett has completed 25 races.

Van Heerden said that the race is an event of endurance and there are runners who aim to be in the top ten but for many other runners it’s just about finishing the race. “You struggle throughout, I mean, running 90 km in itself is inhuman, so you have to dig deep. The first half of the race is physical and the second half is mental but the most beautiful part about running the Comrades is when you finish it. It’s a feeling you cannot explain, everyone needs to experience it,” van Heerden said.

The runners agreed that the preparation of the race takes more of you than the race itself and that it is the support along the road that also keeps them going. Van Heerden said that in order to have a comfortable finish you need to run at least 100 to 120 km a week. “The more training you have, the less time your body needs to recover from the race,” said van Heerden.

Mackett said that he and most of his teammates prepare for under 11 hours to complete the 90 km race. Mackett’s best time was in 2002, 8 hours and 57 minutes and van Heerden’s was 8 hours and 9 minutes.

Van Heerden said, “As the years pass by I’ve realised that it’s not about how fast you can run, but it’s about just finishing the race. You also have to remember that you are not getting younger and your body isn’t the same as it was when you started.”

“The Comrades Marathon becomes part of you, no matter how many times you say ‘never again’ you will return to the next race,” said van Heerden. Van Heerden is taking a break this year and will go down to support his club. He does not recommend running with injuries and said that it is important to listen to your body, its great to finish the race but if your body cannot, then listen to it, there will always be next year.

Mackett disagreed with this view and said that an injury would never stop him from running the race. “Even if I crawl to the finish line, I will do it,” said Mackett. Van Heerden encourages every South African to do the Comrades at least once in their lives, he concluded by saying, “Good health is cheap and being sick is expensive”.

The ultimate human race is 90 km and this year the race will be a ‘down run’. 42.km is the standard race which needs to be completed under five hours in order to complete the race and in order to participate in the marathon you need to be a member of an athletics club. If you would like to join a club or would like more information, contact Gregory Mackett on 082 559 3769 or Willie van Heerden on 079 364 7786.