| Comrades Ultra Marathon Starts an African Adventure |
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| Written by Gary Morgan |
| Monday, 06 July 2009 14:09 |
 As I left Detroit on May 19th, it started an incredible adventure in Africa. I arrived in Durban South Africa on May 20th after 24 hours of travel. That was going to give me three days rest before the comrades Ultra Marathon (56 miles instead of the usual 26 miles for a standard marathon). Comrades is the worlds most famous ultra Marathon attracting over 12,000 runners every year and this was the 84th running of the race. I went to the running expo, course tour and pre race pasta party. That kept me busy for three days.Race morning came and I had to get up at 2 AM to catch the 3 AM bus to the start. I t was a 56 mile bus ride so it got me there at 4 AM. The race started at 5:30 AM, not a lot of time but just enough to get ready for the race. Warmed up a little and then dropped off my bag at the bag truck. As I line up I thinking to myself what have I gotten myself into now. A 56 mile running race Am I nuts. Well the answer is yes. I say to myself now that it’s worth it because this is a world renowned race and it’s Africa. Enough said. The gun goes off and it’s all for the race now. It’s dark for the first hour and a half of the race. So I have to watch my footing plus all the other runners next to me. It becomes a long grueling race with a lot of hills. Where we are running it’s called the land of a thousand hills. It seems like I ran up and down a thousand hills. My quads were screaming. I hit the half way point (28 miles) in 4:44:00. I knew I was going to finish before the cut off time of 12 hours. I felt really good at this point because I just run up the biggest hill on the course. Supposedly it’s all down hill from here. I know better than that, lot’s more hills to go up and down. As I saw the Durban skyline I knew the end was getting close. Running the last mile in the streets of Durban and having spectators cheer us runners on was inspirational. I knew that I was about to complete something very special in my life. When I came into the stadium and I could see the finish line, my heart beat a little faster as I picked up the pace to cross that finish line. My time was 9:42:14; I had beaten my goal time of 10 hours. This was the hardest race I’ve ever done. I hurt like hell. It was worth it though. To have run the Ultimate Human Race as the Comrades is referred to was a great honor for me. This race started out as a memorial race for WW1 veterans in 1921. Then became a symbol to fight apartheid and to have women run the race in 1975, this race is a tribute to the human race. The next day I started my African vacation by flying up to Victoria Falls Zimbabwe. It was truly spectacular seeing those falls. To see that much water going over mile long cliff is unbelievable. There’s so much mist that comes off those falls they call it the smoke that thunders, because you can see it a mile away and here the thunder of the falls. I took a helicopter over it to really see how impressive the falls are. The next day I walked with lions that conservationist plan on releasing back into the wild. It’s a breeding program to rebuild the lion population in Africa. Got to ride an elephant, which was a blast. . It’s amazing how versatile his trunk is. They are amazing animals.  Went to Chobie National Park in Botswana, just driving there was awesome because we had to stop and let a herd of elephants cross the road. I saw crocodiles, hippos, giraffes, Cape buffalo, lions, warthogs, zebras, and more elephants. It was a water land safari combination. It was a zoo without fences. As we were driving there was place where four countries meet they were Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Botswana, the only place where four countries meet in the world.I flew to Cape Town for the last leg of my trip. I went to Robben Island where they held political prisoners during the apartheid years. It was very interesting and emotional as I toured the prison. I remember seeing all the civil unrest in South Africa and the fight to end apartheid. South Africa wasn’t allowed in the Olympics when I competed in the 1980’s because of apartheid. I saw the cell that Nelson Mandela lived in for years. My tour guide was a political prisoner from 1986 to 1990. He knew Nelson Mandela well. After all these years to see what happened in South Africa just a few years ago is very moving. I went for a shark dive. It’s not exactly what you think. I got in a cage next to a boat and saw some great white sharks come by. It was cool. I’d like to do it again. I took s sightseeing bus around Capetown. It’s a great city to visit. I went to the Cape of Good Hope. It’s the most south western point in Africa where the Atlantic and Indian oceans meet. All of South Africa is getting ready for World cup soccer next year. It’s the biggest sporting event behind the Olympics. So they are building new Stadiums in Durban and Capetown. It was a great adventure that I’d like to do again in my lifetime. |
| Last Updated on Wednesday, 02 September 2009 15:08 |
