HEYDEN’S ULTIMATE HUMAN RACE

Kate Dzienis • June 26, 2019

Contributed by Andrew Heyden, AURA member

The 94th Comrades Marathon

Comrades is a world class event with a long and rich history dating back to its inception when soldiers returning from World War I decided to dedicate a tough challenge to their fallen comrades.

It’s worth taking a look to get a true sense for the event; in my view, it’s no wonder it’s on the bucket list for many Australian runners.

My main ‘A’ race in the first half of this year (2019) was the 87km Comrades ultramarathon.

Having completed the down run in 2010 I was keen to return one year to take on the up run, because you aren’t a true Comrades runner until you have done both!

Training had gone well from January through to March and April using Six Foot Track and the Canberra 50km to build and I was feeling strong. I set my sights on a finish time of 6.30 to 6.40.

However a hamstring strain in the May 4 NSW 10km meant missing the four biggest planned training weeks including the longest 60km run and a couple of double long run weekends and hill work.

Instead I had a very early five-week taper and an average of less than 100km per week for my 16-week block.

I was still able to run soon after the strain, but had to be careful and didn’t get beyond a slow 30km with plenty of rest days. What I did do, though, was five weeks of strengthening exercises to try and get the hammy back to where it needed to be.

In my 10 years of ultra running, never before had I stood at the start line with less confidence as to whether I might finish.

After an awesome week in Cape Town, then on safari with my mum, it was race time. On the day before the race we did a coach tour of the course and this brought home the challenge ahead – the hills on the up run are relentless!

Come race day, and I’m up at 3:30am, taking an Uber to the start area and joining the masses in the A pen.

About 25,000 entries had been accepted and 23,000 had qualified and registered. The noise and atmosphere at the start is like no other. African drums are beating and the energy amonst the locals is amazing as they chat , dance, and buzz around.

About 15 minutes before the gun goes off comes the traditional singing of the anthem, and then chariots of fire. The lead up to the start is one of the most amazing aspects of Comrades, but this year due to my lack of confidence and nervous doubts, it was like being in a night club and to be honest I had a headache before the gun fired.

Then it was 5:30am and we were off. There was a lot of pushing and shoving which is mad given the long road ahead. I held back, trying to keep out of trouble; two big falls around me with multiple people hitting the deck. It was dark for the first 45 minutes, and the noise in the outskirts of Durban was incredible – too much to take in, really, and whilst it would normally give an abundance of energy, I was feeling nervous and negative and actually found it too much this time. I was keen to get to the quieter outskirts.

It wasn’t long before the climbs kicked in. I broke the race into sections with the first goal just getting to daylight without tripping. In the first 10km my splits ranged between 4.16 and 4.53 as we covered the first few climbs. It was similar in the next 10km, and the field finally started to spread out a bit. Post-race, the splits showed that I went over the first timing mat in 879th place.

Then it was 15km done, and we had climbed the first of the five ‘serious’ hills although in reality there was no flat running in the whole race.

Cowies Hill climbs over 100m in its 2km. At 22km we are on to the second of the ‘Big 5’ Fields Hill which sees a climb of 190m over 3.2km. At this point, I start overtaking some of the early chargers, with some walking already. My headache had gone, and I started getting my mind set on the plan for the next 65km.

The crowds remained thick and I started getting into the spirit of the race. A few more short rises, and then soon we were on to Botha’s Hill, another 120m rise over 2km. Here I saw a few of the elite women ahead, and latched on to them.

I pulled up alongside multiple Ironman World Champion Chrissie Wellington and saw her eyes were gone and she was shot. I tried to help her up the hill, but she had nothing so I had to push on for myself. Keeping the effort consistent, keeping the gels going down every 7km, and soon we were at the halfway mark at Drummond.

It was time for another big hill, Inchanga, and 140m of climb over 2km.

I had to remind myself that the second half was more flat and the hammy seemed to be holding well, so my confidence notched up a bit and I started to set my sets on my PB from 2010 (7:08) as achievable.

Finally a few downhills, but I daren’t open up my stride and put pressure on the hammy. I held strong on the next hill at Umlaas Road and pushed past a few of the named elites. I high-fived the disabled children from Ethembeni School and reminded myself I was fortunate to be able to run. They were a big part of the Comrades race and a few of them had Aussie flags I had handed out the day before.

Just as my spirits were rising the guy next to me bit into his water sachet and attempted to spray the water down his neck, but instead it directed right into my left ear. I stumbled just as another runner cut across me to grab a water sachet, yet somehow we didn’t trip. That was a close one.

We were through 60km and 70km, and I’d held the same average pace.

I now allowed myself to look at the kilometre markers i.e. 17km to go, 16km to go, and so forth, and I decided to try and push on.

I managed to get my pace into the 4.20s and it was great because there was still no sign of the hamstring tightening. The PB was on, but the last of the ‘big 5’ hills was looming.

Polly Shorts is shorter and steeper, and meant another 130m of climbing although it was only 8km left once you summited. Most people around me were breaking on Polly Shorts and walking, but I refused to stop running.

Finally at the top, I grabbed my first Coke of the day and finally allowed myself to believe I was going to not only finish and claim another silver medal, but maybe get a PB too.

I put in a 4.27km and started the push for home, but bloody hell, around the corner and we were climbing again! It wasn’t flat after all! I reeled in two more elite ladies, and a few more runners and started pushing for home.

On to the home straight!

Finally I was buzzing; the adrenaline was flowing and could see the finish at the race course ahead. I covered the last 1.2km at a 3.49 pace, my fastest of the day. The wall of noise in the 300m finish zone was awesome and even if the hammy went, I wasn’t going to stopping.

I finished in 7:02 with a second silver medal claimed, and the hammy didn’t spoil the experience.

The up run was tough from the gun. Not one easy flat kilometre to be had, but the challenge made the race even more special. I’m now finally a true Comrades runner having completed an up run and a down run.

I would recommend this race to anyone, it’s not just for serious runners or elites. The majority of the field finish in the last two hours, and many that don’t finish will be back trying again next year having enjoyed the experience.

Sure, many people want to run big city marathons and see them as the highest profile races, but they only started in the 1970s, 50 years later than Comrades.

Whilst a visit to South Africa brings with it a few potential dangers, it also brings the opportunity for a fantastic cultural experience and is a great holiday destination.

Pictured: Andrew Heyden taking on this year’s Comrades Up Race. Photograph – Supplied.

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AUTRA News Report 19-02-2025

By Kate Dzienis • February 19, 2025

The latest in race results, covering Cradle Mountain Run, City Run, Oscars 100 Hut 2 Hut and Yaberoo Trail Ultra.

Final 2024 Points Competition Results

By Alexis Oosterhoff • January 30, 2025

Results for the 2024 AUTRA Points Competition have been finalised, and are available on our Points Competition page. Full details of the top 10 (as shared on Facebook during January) are detailed below, and results for all participating AUTRA members can be found in the documents at the above link. It was a real battle throughout the year between our top two finishers, Phil Gore & Kevin "BK" Matthews, with both giving it their it their all at events, and through contributions to the community - volunteering at multiple events, and submitting articles to our monthly newsletter, Ultramag. They finished within 2km of total distance for the year (Phil on 1203.087km, and Kevin on 1205.510km), and it was only Phil's final volunteering effort on 6 Inch Trail Marathon in December that gave him the that very narrow victory. As you'd be aware from previous communications, this marks the end of the Points Competition. With trail running (of all distances) now incorporated into AU T RA's constitution, and after careful consideration of the costs of the competition payouts in it's current form, the committee felt it was time for it's retirement. This marks my seventh and final year of delivering the points competition to membership (2018-2024), after taking on the role from Cheryl Symons. It has brought me great joy in doing so, and I feel like I've had an opportunity to get to know so many of our members through seeing their race (and volunteering) performances over the years! I'm continuing in my role as the AUS/NZL statistician for DUV (from whom we shared the data for the points comp), and you can expect to continue to find your ultra-race result on their site. 1st Place - Phil Gore (WA) - 86 points Phil's achievements this year have included a massive 265.653km (and 2nd place) at the IAU 24h Asia & Oceania Championships, wins at the Red Dirt Backyard Ultra (33 laps), the Australian leg of Big Dog's Backyard World Team Championship (96 laps), and the Soochow/Taipei 24h Ultramarathon (270.826km). He also knocked out an easy (!) 72km at the Light Horse Ultra 24h in between supporting his amazing wife Gemma. Those two 24h wins netted Phil new Oceania 24h Open Male records, IAU Level 1 qualifiers, and pushed him to the top of Australia's 24h trophy board (with only the great Yiannis Kouros having run further). Phil topped-up his points by contributing one article to Ultramag, worked as an Event Director at Herdy's Frontyard Ultra, and volunteered at a further five events through the year. He finished on 86 points. 2nd Place - Kevin Matthews (WA) - 84 points Finishing in 2nd place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Kevin Matthews. He monstered his way through the year with finishes at Australia Day Ultra 100km, Delirious WEST 200mi, 24 laps at Herdy's Frontyard Ultra, 190km at Light Horse Ultra 24h, 23 laps at Birdy's Backyard Ultra, and also completed Feral Pig 100 miler, Sandman 50km and Six Inch 47km. And to top things off, he contributed five articles to Ultramag, and volunteered at five events. BK ran 1205km in Ultramarathon races this year, all of them AUTRA-listed, and surpassed 100 marathon finishes (including 51 Ultramarathons!) Kevin finished the year on 84 points, a massive 34 points ahead of our 3rd place finisher Sue Robertson. 3rd Place - Sue Robertson (WA) - 50 points Finishing in 3rd place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Sue Robertson. Sue completed the Ultra Series 100 miler trilogy of Delirious WEST, Irrational SOUTH and Unreasonable EAST, and rounded out her year with the Sandman 50km and Six Inch 47km races. She received 30 points from the racing at AUTRA-listed events, and was awarded a further 20 points by volunteering across eight events and contributing two articles to Ultramag, for a total of 50 points for the year. Thank you Sue! 4th Place - Margie Hadley (WA) - 47 points Finishing in 4th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Margie Hadley . She was the top-female finisher at both the No Time to Die Frontyard Ultra & Wild Dog Backyard Ultra, 2nd at Birdy's Backyard Ultra, ran 182km at the Australian 24h Track Invitational and placed 3rd at Coast to Kosci. Margie received 47 points in the competition 5th Place - Melissa Robertson (NSW) - 44 points Finishing in 5th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is NSW's Melissa Robertson. Melissa took out 1st place at Irrational SOUTH 200 miler, 2nd place at Lakes Trail Festival 100km, 1st place at Hume & Hovell 100 miler, 3rd place at Rumble in the Jungle and 6th place at Ultra-Trail Kosciuszko 100 miler! She also volunteered at the GNW 50km event, receiving 44 points in the competition! 6th Place - Aaron Young (WA) - 42 points Finishing in 6th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Aaron Young . Aaron finished in 1st place at each of the Ultra Series "Triple Crown" of 200 milers (Delirious WEST, Irrational SOUTH and Unreasonable EAST), 55 laps at Big Dog's Backyard World Team Championship, and rounded his year out with Feral Pig 100 miler. Aaron receives 42 points, just nudging ahead of Maree Connor (who also finished on 42 points) on a count-back 7th Place - Maree Connor (NSW) - 42 points Finishing in 7th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is NSW's Maree Connor. Maree had an outstanding year, achieving 2nd place with 221km (and an IAU Level 1 qualifier) at the IAU 24th Asian and Oceania Championships, 1st place at the Lakes Trail Festival 100km, 1st place with 67km at the Southern Sydney 6h race, and 1st place with 116km at the Narrabeen Allnighter 12h. Maree also competed at Spartathlon race this year (for which she contributed an article to the September Ultramag on her experience), receiving 42 points in the competition. 8th Place - Darren Linney (SA) - 41 points Finishing in 8th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is SA's Darren Linney . Darren completed 34 laps at No Time to Die BYU, 199km at the Adelaide 24h race, and 814km at the Australian 6 Day race, for a total of 1241km raced and 41 points . 9th Place - Tristan Cameron (WA) - 40 points Finishing in 9th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Tristan Cameron. Tristan completed the Ultra Series Triple Crown of 200 mile races (Delirious WEST, Irrational SOUTH and Unreasonable EAST), along with Feral Pig 100 miler, for a total of 1154km raced and 40 points. 10th Place - Jen Millum (WA) - 39 points Finishing in 10th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Jen Millum . Jen finished 1st at all three of the Ultra Series Trilogy of 100 milers (Delirious WEST, Irrational SOUTH and Unreasonable EAST), and was 2nd female with 35 laps at the Wild Dog Backyard Ultra. With a volunteer stint at the Yaberoo Trail Ultra, Jen finished the year with 39 points in the competition. To view the complete list of members who secured points in 2024 click here and then follow through to Points Summary under the 2024 tab. All winners have already been contacted, with cash prizes distributed for 1st - 7th places, and AUTRA Store vouchers sent for 8th, 9th & 10th.