The Comrades: the secrets to slaying the Up-Run

 With this year’s June 4th race looming large for thousands of runners who have trained for Up Run-specific conditions, Lindsey Parry (official Comrades Marathon coach) and Dennis Jackson (Biokineticist, Discovery Team Vitality KZN committee member and Director of Durban’s Prime Human Performance Centre), unlock secrets to slaying the Up-Run.

“The Up Run is an enormous challenge that requires both physical and psychological preparation.” - Comrades Marathon Expert and Coach Lindsey Parry.

“By the 36 km point you have run three of the so-called Big Five hills and reached the second-highest point on the route. That’s an enormous amount of climbing.” - Comrades Marathon Expert and Coach Lindsey Parry.

“By forcing yourself to run conservatively over the first half you will give yourself the best chance at a negative split during the slightly more favourable second half of the race.” – Biokineticist and Director of the Prime Human Performance Centre, Dennis Jackson.

 “Your stride length and stride rate should naturally decrease when running up hill but it is very important not to increase your stride length to run faster up the hill. What you gain in the short term will definitely cause you more fatigue and problems towards the end of the race.” – Biokineticist and Director of the Prime Human Performance Centre, Dennis Jackson.

On Sunday, 4 June 2017 thousands of runners will take part in the 92nd Comrades Marathon, an Up Run from the City Hall in Durban at 05h30 to end (officially) 12 hours later at the Scottsville Racecourse in Pietermaritzburg. “The Comrades Up Run is an enormous challenge that requires both physical and psychological preparation,” cautions official Comrades Marathon Coach, Lindsey Parry. “Runners will literally start running uphill straight away.”

For Parry, the Comrades Down Run, which takes place in the opposite direction on alternate years, is about pain management as the legs take a pounding on the route’s steep downhills. In contrast, the Up Run is a long day of ever-increasing fatigue. “By the 36 km point you have run three of the so-called Big Five hills and reached the second-highest point on the route. That’s an enormous amount of climbing. The legs will be heavy and tired,” he adds. “By 50 km you’ve done four of the Big Five - yet still have 36 km to go.” The profile gets easier at that stage as gently rolling hills take you to the highest point at about 19 km before the finish. But the last of the Big Five hills – Polly Shortts – is still to come.

 
Conquering almost 90km of brutal hills: The Up Run walk-run strategy

Pacing yourself right, especially in the beginning, will get you to your best possible finish time. Parry’s number one point of advice is this: “The success of the Up Run revolves around getting to the 50 km mark with runnable legs. Do this by instituting a run-walk strategy during the first 36km in particular.” By walk, Parry means power walking using the arms and slowing down the contraction of the muscles, so reducing the impact force from running for a while with

• Silver-medal hopefuls walking once on each hill
  
• Bill Rowan hopefuls walking one third of the hill
  
• Runners aiming to finish in over nine hours using a 1walk:1run strategy - e.g. repeat cycles of a two-minute walk followed by a 2-minute run.
  

“If you manage your first 50 km well you should be able to run a similar speed on the rolling hills from 50 km onwards. Then with 20 km to go, even on tired legs, you should be able to make up quite a lot of time,” explains Parry. Most runners fear that walking early in the race will jeopardise their finish. “But, if you have a fixed strategy that takes out the guess work it becomes habitual, easy and rhythmic.” Runners can also take in food at a slower pace on hills.

The Up Run’s effect on runner’s body

“Traditionally, slighter runners have done better in the Comrades Down Runs while the physically stronger runners have done well on the Up Runs,” explains Dennis Jackson, member of Discovery’s Team Vitality KZN committee, biokineticist and director of the Prime Human Performance Institute.

Good uphill runners generally have strong quadriceps, calf and upper body muscles. “The Up Run includes around 50 km of uphill, 13 km of downhill running and around 24 km of flat or steady climbing. In short, you will need to be a good hill runner,” adds Jackson. When running uphill some degree of forward lean is necessary. However, Jackson finds that many runners tend to lean too far forward. “This will inhibit your ability to flex your hips and drive your knee during the swing phase of your gait which will shorten your hip range of motion and thus decrease your running efficiency,” explains Jackson. “Leaning forward also inhibits your ability to produce a powerful toe-off during the drive phase of your gait. When you run tall you are able to fully extend your leg by activating the glute muscle which will allow you to generate greater energy through your calf muscles.”

Running on an incline results in a greater oxygen deficit due to the increase in muscle mass activation in the lower body - around 10 % higher in uphill running. “Constantly run within yourself or even slow down to keep your heart rate constant,” advises Jackson. “As soon as you increase your heart rate dramatically, your energy system is put under strain. Your stride length and stride rate should naturally decrease when running up hill but it is very important not to increase your stride length to run faster up the hill. What you gain in the short term will definitely cause you more fatigue and problems towards the end of the race.”

What does mammoth Strenuous Endurance Exercise (SEE) mean for runners’ health? “Comrades trainees should feel proud of themselves for many reasons, not least of which is having benefited from the significantly life-enhancing effects of SEE,” explains says Head of Discovery Vitality Wellness, Craig Nossel. This year, 1147 Team Vitality runners, licenced in Central Gauteng, KZN or Gauteng North, have registered for the Comrades marathon. “We know that daily moderate endurance exercise is linked to longer life expectancy,” adds the running enthusiast. “Even really low-volume long-term running (less than 51 minutes a week) reduces the risk of mortality due to cardiovascular disease. But, studies show that, for those who have no health complications or heart conditions, SEE produces higher life expectancy and protection from cardiac disease than non in SEE-participants,” adds Nossel. “The precursors of chronic disease - obesity, diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia and more – are all positively modulated by long-term Strenuous Endurance Exercise.”

Climb the Big Five

• The first 39 km of the race are the hardest. They include Cowies Hill about 15km in (likely the easiest of the hills at only 2 km long).
  
• Close on its heels, into Pinetown, is Fields Hill, 4 km of very steep climbing just after the half marathon mark.
  
• Short (2 km) but steep, Bothas Hill rises ahead of runners at 35 km in. Probably the steepest of the Big 5, Coach Parry advises a lot of walking up Botha’s Hill up to the 37 km mark, just about the highest point on the course.
  
• The fourth hill is the daunting 6 km long Inchanga climb that snakes into the distance from the halfway point (at roughly 44km). Runners now have a marathon distance in their legs so Parry advises a lot of walking up Inchanga.
  
• This hill is followed by easier rolling hill stretches from 50 km in until Little Polly hill, which comes just before the infamous Polly Shortts hill, a 2.7 km climb roughly 10 km from the end of the race. Unless you are in danger of not making a medal cut-off, a cut-off or finishing the race at that point, Parry advises walking the whole of Polly Shortts. “It’s quite steep and it comes deep, deep, deep into the race when, quite frankly, your climbing legs have had enough,” he adds. “Almost everyone who gets over Polly Shortts in their goal time will go on to finish Comrades because even though your legs are tired, on an Up Run, they are not typically very sore which means you can run most of the last 7 km, a stretch almost all downhill.
  

 
Split opinion?

Drummond, the traditional half way point, splits the route slightly unevenly with a longer second half. With Drummond as the half-way point, Parry’s advice is that, “A damn-near perfect race will see you run a positive split of somewhere between five and 10 minutes slower during the second half of the race.” Alternatively, splitting the race into two mathematically perfect halves could see a very slightly negative or an even split become the right way to run it. Jackson explains, “By forcing yourself to run conservatively over the first half you will give yourself the best chance at a negative split during the slightly more favourable second half of the race.”

Hydration: weathering the whims of the weather 

“Prepare for any eventuality - cold, heat, rain or wind,” advises Jackson. In general, the Up Run starts in slightly warmer conditions in Durban (around 10 degrees Celcius) and, although the humidity will be less towards the end of the Up Run as compared to the end of the Down Run, the dry Pietermaritzburg heat can still be very difficult for those running into the very hot part of the afternoon. Those finishing after 11 or 12 hours will have to contend with the temperature cooling dramatically into the late afternoon and early evening.

Runners may find themselves thirsty earlier on an Up Run as the weather in Durban is far warmer than in the early stages of a Down Run race (which starts in Pietermaritzburg). There are 48 water stations divided over the total course of 86.7 km. Parry’s advice on hydration: “Drink to thirst. Jackson adds: “Over-hydration or hyponatremia (low blood sodium levels) is one of the most common medical complications in long-distance events and causes of many race-related deaths.” He also emphasises that taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDs during long races inhibits prostaglandins (hormones that help normalize blood flow to the kidneys) both risking kidney failure and abnormally elevated blood pressure.

Mind over matter

A survey of by the Comrades Marathon of 1000 runners who didn’t complete the race revealed that two thirds of respondents cited the reason for dropping out as starting with an injury. Even runners who are injury-free at the start will have to face their demons. “The Comrades distance is a long time to be on the move and under pressure,” reflects Parry. The 65 km mark is generally the point at which the constant pressure of cut-off times, physical discomfort, a low energy patch, a very hot or windy day will bring most runners to the point of needing a reason to stay on the road.” Parry’s advice is to break the race up into small chunks, one foot in front of the other for 15 to 30 minutes, one kilometre at a time, one water point to the next. “You have two tipping points to look forward to – the moment you go from 20 km to 19 km and from 10 km to 9 km. From then on its all about the medal and by the time you enter the stadium you have forgotten all your troubles,” says Parry. “All you will be thinking about is how to make the 2018 Comrades Marathon even more comfortable.”