The Ultimate Human Race by Richard Smith

As the entries open for 2025, we can cast our minds back to June the 9^th and the experience that was Comrades 2024.

Sitting and writing this months after the race gives great perspective on the day. As much as the race itself is simply unbelievable and provides lifetime memories, the journey to get to the start-line is equally as important.

Months of preparation, Tuesday and Saturday club runs come sunshine, rain…and the inevitable wind with fellow FHAC’ers, solo long runs in the dark, it all prepares you for the big day.

A few notable events which stand out are 4 Hills for Lindsay, Rara and Port Run which all build up and send the FHAC Comrades runners off in style.
A notable mention for organizing these must go to Lambert and everyone who made these days possible.

My Comrades journey started in February 2023 without knowing it was going to be.
Turning 40 brought mindset change and it was time to start ticking off bucket list items.

The target was to complete a marathon overseas, which was done, the focus then shifted to Two Oceans Ultra and after a few Tuesday Wors runs with a few beers, the convincing worked. Comrades 2024 was part of the plan.

The saying remains true – no good story ever started with a glass of milk.

The big day eventually arrived:

Nearing 5h30 the energy started to build, everyone stood in their pens, and the announcer started welcoming the elite contenders individually. Instead of being in awe, I just thought those bastards will be done about 5 hours faster than me.

Singing the anthem is always special and have fond memories of singing at a few Springbok matches with 35000 plus people, but singing with 20000 fellow runners in this environment just hits different. I found it an odd place for someone to chop onions, but there we were.

Shosholoza started and some gent behind me was obviously a baritone in the national choir, so I just soaked in the moment and didn’t ruin the eardrums of people nearby. The crows were heard and off we went. After not too long we were on a highway running under bridges and as far as the eye could see, there were only runners.

I remember about 10 of us all gasping in awe of a sea of runners that resembled an army setting out for battle. One of the runners nearby said, “This is my 4th and it’s still unbelievable”.

I was a novice, so everything seemed unbelievable.

My left calf that had been giving me issues since the disaster was Oceans ultra and it poked its ugly head up rather early. After about 30min Bruce Fordyce was vocal in my head – Start like a coward, finish like a hero.

My strategy formed – run until I feel any niggles or pain, then walk for a bit. It’s obviously an Up Run and there are the special named hills but there are several unnamed hills that just piled on the elevation. It honestly felt like one big hill.

I blinked and was looking down at the top of Fields Hills which is approx. 30 odd KM’s in. Up to then it was all a blur and in survival mode. It’s also not very pretty, comparable to the Woodstock/ Salt River section in Cape Town Marathon. From there it got prettier and tougher, but the camaraderie and chat amongst the fellow runners was fantastic.

Previous Comrades finishers talk about how brilliant the support along the route is. It’s one of the most mentioned aspects of the event. As much as I thought was prepped for it, I was not.
The support is surreal, breath-taking, never-ending – pick an adjective. If for some unknown reason the Springboks don’t make you patriotic, this race will.

The KM’s were chewed up slowly and by the time I neared the 60km mark, Andrew Proctor and Andre Strydom caught me. Now normally my competitive nature would take over, but I have never been happier to see familiar faces. Especially considering AP’s injury lead up to the race. From there I found my legs didn’t get any worse, the pain was the pain and was manageable. I was in a good position and maintained the same pace until the finish.

Another thing everyone talks about is Pollys – it was spoken of so much that my thinking was it can’t be as bad as everyone said. Us FHAC’ers have Chappies – come on. Ya, I was wrong, it’s as bad as everyone said, probably worse. It was a really nice walk.

Getting closer and closer to the finish I started to calculate if I needed to walk the remaining KM’s if I would finish and if I’d sneak under 11 hours. All worked out and could soak in the last few KM’s. Knowing the job was complete and the months of hard work and sacrifice resulted in achieving the goal, was special.

With around 3kms to go I spotted the large rear end of Lambert and we got to run the last stretch together, sharing war stories and spoke of what a special day out it was. Before we knew it, we took the final turn onto the grass where a long, long time ago a Dutchman and the Legend Gerda had finished. Spotted my wife, took a final picture and crossed the line – thrashing Lambert by 1 second.

I am a Comrades finisher. The day was everything I had hoped it would be and more. If you consider yourself a runner, Comrades has to be on the list. It’s a non-negotiable and this is coming from someone who put it off for years.