“If you start to feel good during an ultra, don’t worry, you will get over it.” - Gene Thibeault

 

I always knew Calvin was an endurance athlete.

In less than 24 hours the 2012 Comrades (Ultra) Marathon will commence and my second attempt in 2 years will be underway. Those novice runners who complete two Comrades Marathons in two sequential years get the opportunity to earn the special back-to-back medal. This will be my one and only shot for this medal and my first attempt at a bronze medal to go with it (last years finish earned me a brass Vic Chapman medal).

The final preparations are underway. Yesterday I spent hours laying out my “uniform”, attaching bibs, arranging gu gels, putting everything in place so I don’t forget it at 1am in the morning when the alarm goes off.

What do final race day preparations include for a race of this magnitude?

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“Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning, a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle, when the sun comes up, you’d better start running.” –African Proverb

Today was the day of the expo and not much has changed from last year. Well, one thing has changed: The color of my number.

The Bib

At the Comrades Marathon, they color-code runners depending on several factors (and you can keep your number if you run sequential races). Normally, my number would have been blue (designating me an international runner), but this year it’s orange.

The orange signifies I am running for a back-to-back medal and last year was my novice year at Comrades.

It wasn’t until I was pinning my bib to my shirt that the significance of that color began to sink in. This will be my one and only shot at this medal. It will be, for me, a once-in-a-lifetime event. As far as my running goes, I may run farther (I highly doubt it), and I may run more “difficult” courses, but this medal has the potential for being the most significant and glorious medal I will ever get the chance to achieve. Even if I return to Comrades, this race is the one I will be trying to get the extra and special back-to-back medal.

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If all goes as planned, I will be adding an entry each day before the 2012 Comrades Marathon. With over 18,000 runners, this “Ultimate Human Race” is a unique experience that every runner should have at least once. For me, this is my second year. I didn’t know last year that I would be trying for the “back-to-back” medal, but here I am. This medal will be one of the most unique medals of my entire running/triathlon career. And yes, I said that positive – I not only want to finish, but I’m not considering failure. It could happen, but I’m determined not to think about that.

Surprise

One of the things you must always prepare for is the unexpected. That’s already started early in my adventure to South Africa, but in a very pleasant sort of way. Continue reading →