The Race Report!

And finally, what you’ve all been waiting for (sorry it took so long, but we were all in recovery!)…

Alfred’s reportback on his 14th Comrades Marathon, fueled for the first time by Banting! Alf shares his experiences, both on the road and off, and tells us about some of the more whimsical moments in his journey.

We also finally satisfy our curiosity about what it feels like to complete a test of the limits of human endurance, on a Low Carb/High Fat diet. (Spoiler alert: it feels good!)

So there you have it: 2015’s Comrades journey comes to an end. Congratulations on a great run, Alfred! See you on the road next year…

Read all about Alfred’s race here.

The Race!

FINISH (87.7km)!!!
Finishing Time: 9:55:51

Polly Shortts (80.2km)
7.5km to end
Time: 9:05:22
Pace: 6:48min/km

Lion Park (70.7km)
17km to end
Time: 7:58:12
Pace: 6.46min/kim

Cato Ridge (57.7km)
30km to end
Time: 6:10:51
Pace: 6.26min/km

Drummond (43.7km)
44km to end
Time: 4:30:33
Pace: 6.12min/km

Cowies Hill (16.8km)
70.9km to end
Time: 1:44:10
Pace: 6.12min/km

START
87.7 km to end
Time: 0:00:00

Here’s a pdf of the route map: comrades _marathon_2015_route_map

Race Buildup

Tomorrow Alfred will run his 14th Comrades Marathon. It’s been an incredible journey for him – he’s overcome the struggle of injury, the challenges of adjusting to a new diet, lost 9 kilograms and run over 500km in the last two months.

Check out this summary of his journey up till now…

And track him tomorrow by SMS’ing his race number 51183 to 39174 (R20 for nine SMS’s) or watch out for posts here of his times along the route.

So much more than a race!

Why do these athletes run this race year after year? Don’t they get bored? Isn’t it sore? What brings them back?

This morning we went to Alfred’s club’s Comrades breakfast and were lucky enough to experience a bit of why this epic event is so much more than a race!

Read on our full experience here

The gathering of runners, family, friends and supporters at Germiston Callies’ Comrades breakfast

Spread the love! How you can help

As is tradition, Alf has chosen a charity to support along the way: Meals on Wheels Community Services South Africa! If you’d like to join Team ABC and get involves, here’s how…

Race Prep

Well we’re well on our way to Comrades and there’s no turning back now… not that Alf has any notions of such a thing! We thought it was time to get down to the nitty gritty of a Comrades athlete’s final preparations, in both diet and training routine. In his characteristic way, Alfred calmly explains what it will take in these next few weeks to push himself to maximum mental and physical readiness.

If you’ve ever wanted to know how a Comrades runner uses his final weeks before the race, read on here…

Alfred Gets Some New Shoes!

This week we received a very generous donation from a supporter of Alfred from Switzerland! Thanks once again Opal. Your donation went a long way towards helping Alfred purchase some snazzy, new Nike Vomero running shoes.

Thanks also to Sindee at The Sweat Shop, Southdowns who was super helpful about which shoes would work best for Alfred’s running gait!

 

The Diet Plan

It’s the halfway mark! Can you guys believe it’s already been a month since Alfred introduced Banting into his Comrades training?! This afternoon Kim and I met with Alf to find out the ins and outs of his daily diet, now that he’s settled into the eating plan. Read more about his daily food routine here.

Why Banting?

Of all the diets, in all the world, Alfred had to commit to this one… but what makes this one so special?

Kim takes the class on an Educational Field Trip and explains (as he so loves to do) what the principles and promises of the Banting Diet are. Why has this diet taken the world by storm, and what exactly is it doing to your body?

Haters gonna hate, but Banters gonna Bant… get some knowledge here

Why change?

Revolutionising your personal diet seems like a curious thing to do when you’re two months away from the biggest race in the world. We tried to get to the bottom of what convinced Alfred to convert to Banting, and what dissatisfied him about his previous eating regime. As usual, his answers were both practical and, as always, a little bit philosophical.

If you’re reading this and you’re on Banting, tell us what inspired you here…