Athletics | Running

Bruce Fordyce © Gallo Images

Fordyce's five tips for Comrades

by Adnaan Mohamed 11/06/2008, 23:40

There are five things that the top Comrades runners should keep in mind to do well on Sunday, says nine-time winner Bruce Fordyce.

"First, you must simply try to finish. Second, you must feel good while you run. Third, you must aim to win a gold medal. Then, of course, you must run to win. And, fifth, a record time should be the last thing on your mind," the King of Comrades said on Wednesday.

Fordyce, who expects South Africa's Brian Zondi to do well, will take part in his 32nd Comrades marathon this weekend.

Because it's such a long race (87 km) anything can happen, he believes. The Comrades is totally unpredictable.

Approximately 11 500 athletes will take part in the "up" run from Durban to Pietermaritzburg on Sunday.

"There is a misconception that the up run is harder because times are usually slower than on the down run," Fordyce said on Wednesday.

"But on the down run (from Pietermaritzburg to Durban) your legs take more strain. You can feel it the day after the race."

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Leonid Shvetsov last year broke Fordyce's down-run record that had stood at 5 hours 24 minutes 7 seconds for 21 years. The Russian set a new mark of 5:20:49.

However, Fordyce does not believe Shvetsov will break Vladimir Kotov's "up" record of 5:25:33 set in 2000.

"If you look at history, you'll see many Comrades winners prefer the up run. Kotov, who is 50, has won only from Durban to 'Maritzburg, in 2000, 2002 and 2004. I also prefer the up run," Fordyce said.

No South African woman has a chance of beating the Russian twins Elena and Olesya Nurgalieva, he believes.

"Farwa Mentoor will probably be the first SA women across the line but the Russians should dominate again." Frith van der Merwe set the down record of 5:54:43 in 1989 while Elena Nurgalieva set the up record of 6:09:23 in 2006.

Fordyce feels the change of date for next year's Comrades is a step in the right direction.

"The general feeling is that it will be good to move it back to the end of May. It's too long to wait until June and it's sometimes difficult to maintain momentum in your preparations," he explained.