Long distance runner Brendan Davies from Woodford was the first Australian home in the Comrades Marathon – considered the most competitive ultra marathon event in the world – held in South Africa late last month.
He placed 19th, finishing the gruelling 89km course in 5 hours 53 seconds, ranking him the second fastest Australian of all time, behind Don Wallace’s 5:43 time in the year 2000.
Davies was the third non-African athlete over the line, with South African David Gatebe, 34, taking the honours in 5:18:19.
Davies said the course, which travels from Pietermaritzburg to Durban on road but has a significant amount of ups and downs, was tougher than expected.
“Although more downhill than uphill ... the downhill comes late in the race when the body is already hurting so you can't really exploit it as much and you'd want to. I pushed as hard as I could on the downs still,” he said.
Despite this, he still managed a cracker of a pace, his average 3:58min/km.
The 39-year-old gradually worked his way through the 16,800 competitor field, keeping it close to his threshold most of the race, while being careful not to push himself past his limit.
“I drank frequently with both water and sports drink in order to get the calories and hydration in. This was critical as it was a day when cramping and dehydration could have wrecked your race. Indeed many succumbed to it, as I passed many people struggling with this,” he said.
The athletes had plenty of supporters along the way, with people lining the route from start to finish.
Wearing an Australian representative singlet, Davies attracted even more support, with “Aussie Aussie Aussie!” chants ringing out along the route.
“We ran past villages and towns and the whole town comes out to support, the kids cheering, the smoke from barbecues wafting through the air, the local indigenous kids singing and dancing and loads of special moments that I'll never forget,” he said.
While never one to let the dust settle under his feet for long, Davies is already looking forward to next year’s event, which would be run in the opposite direction, therefore playing to Davies strength on the hills.
