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Shvetsov Recorded Fastest Comrades Pace Ever
Posted June 20th, 2007 at 12:40 PM by David Monti
Section: News & Results, Marathons
The Comrades Marathon, the world’s largest and most famous ultramarathon, presents a unique challenge for the sport’s statisticians. Not only does the race change direction each year between Pietermaritzburg and Durban, but either gains or loses 670m (2197 feet) of elevation depending on the direction (Durban is at sea level). This year’s race as a “down” run.
In addition, the distance changes slightly depending on road work and other factors, so comparing performances from year to year, even for the same direction, is tricky.
The 82nd Comrades, held last Sunday, was contested over an 89.3 km (55.5 mi.) course. Winner Leonid Shvetsov covered the distance in 5:20:49, averaging three minutes, 35.6 seconds per kilometer (5:47.1 per mi.). According to our analysis, that makes Shvetsov’s the fastest paced in Comrade’s “down” run in history.
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Two deaths mar last Sunday’s Comrades Marathon
Posted June 19th, 2007 at 12:42 PM by David Monti
Section: News & Results, Marathons
Two runners who participated in the 82nd Comrades Marathon died on Sunday, one during the race and one afterwards. The ultramarathon, which had more than 12,000 entrants, was run over 89.3 km between Pietermaritzburg and Durban.
Michael Gordon (34) died shortly after being helped across the finish line by fellow runners. He apparently suffered a heart attack moments before crossing the line and although he was treated within seconds by the emergency medical team, he was declared dead when he arrived in the fully equipped field hospital in Kingsmead Stadium. It was Gordon’s first Comrades.
Willem Malapi (48) finished soon after Gordon and was also helped across the line by other runners. He was taken to the field hospital and then transferred in a critical condition to Durban’s St Augustine’s Hospital where he died at approximately 20:00 after his heart had stopped for a second time. Malapi was a seasoned runner with 14 Comrades under his belt. The cause of his death was announced as cardiac arrest after he had suffered an electrolyte imbalance.
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Stunning victory for Shvetsov at Comrades Marathon
Posted June 17th, 2007 at 4:32 PM by Adam Jacobs
Section: News & Results, Marathons
Size doesn’t matter, at least not in the Comrades [Marathon].
Tall, strongly-muscled, long-striding Russian Leonid Shvetsov, 38, finally disproved the belief that big men can’t win the “down” Comrades when he shattered Bruce Fordyce’s venerable 21-year-old record in the ultramarathon between Pietermaritzburg and Durban by more than three minutes in what second placer Grigoriy Murzin described as the greatest ultradistance performance of all time over 89.3 km (55.5 mi.).
Shvetsov, who placed 13th in the 2004 Olympic Marathon and is 1.85m (6′ 4″) tall and weighs around 72 kg (158 lbs), finished in 5:20:49 to win by nine minutes, 31 seconds –-the biggest winning margin since Fordyce beat Mark Page by 10:46 in 1988. Shvetsov, who took the lead for good with more than 33 km to run, said afterwards that he felt the record could go soon after he ran through halfway of the 89.3 km distance. At halfway in Drummond he was still almost two minutes behind leader Petros Sosibo, who would eventually fade to 48th place.
Read the rest at our partner site: TrailFit.com
Russians & South Africans poised to dominate Comrades Marathon
Posted June 13th, 2007 at 10:13 AM by Bob Ramsak
Section: News & Results, Marathons
South African men have won the last three “down” Comrades Marathons, but it seems likely that a Russian will be first across the line this Sunday, June 17, when the 82nd running of the world’s largest ultramarathon takes place between Pietermaritzburg and Durban. The distance of the race this year is 89.3 km.
The ultramarathon will be run on a Sunday for the first time in history. This unpopular decision, widely seen in the running community as the result of the Comrades Marathon Association bowing under political pressure from governing body Athletics South Africa, has led to a decrease of about 15 percent in entries. The last few years the race was held on Youth Day (June 16), a highly politicized public holiday in post-apartheid South Africa.
Foreign women have dominated the Comrades in recent years, with the last local victory coming in 1998 when Rae Bisschoff won. Most pundits expect that this year will be no different.
Read the rest at our partner site: TrailFit.com
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