Why I run Comrades

Once Comrades spirit is in the blood it is part of you until you draw that very last breath. It will define you and cause you to live each day as fully as you can.

Comrades for me provides hope - a hope that we as a human race can overcome our differences. A hope that tomorrow will be better than today. A hope that we can set aside differences and move forward together. A hope that the human spirit and that care factor for your fellow man is still alive and well. A hope that greed and hate can be overcome in the world. It is that one day when everything in South Africa and in humanity is as it should be. White, Black and all different races are locked in that same goal.

It is the great leveller - for it does not matter if you are the man in the $300 running shoes and with the hi tech Garmin watch, or if you are the barefoot Zulu warrior in torn shorts who is out to prove your manhood by running over the ground where once your ancestors ran free. We will all suffer abit on the day. Each will be locked in their own struggle and with their own goals, but guaranteed whatever they are, once you are at Polly Shortts and 8km from the end you will be willing along the people with you to finish. A few hours ago those that were strangers are now your kindreds as you push on.

That pain is not a bad thing though, for there will be 15000 odd others sharing in it. It will allow you to set aside some of your weaknesses - it will force you to see life in a different light - more so than any other event it is not about the time spent on the road, or what you will see with your eyes on the day (although this will live with you forever). It is about that place you will go to in your mind and in your heart - the place where you will examine your moral fibre, your honesty and the very reason for your existence. What you will see and where you will go inside yourself and how you will emerge is the truest gift and I for one would embark on this journey again for no reward other than that feeling at the end.

If you don't yet feel that Comrades spirit in your life, it will eventually get you. Do something for yourself and something for someone else each day and life will be so good!

Stride for stride on a life changing ride! – Sean Muller