Brad Brown

One of the things I love about the Comrades Marathon are the stories. Everybody that has run it or even just been around it has a story to tell. Over the last year or so I have been lucky enough to speak around the country about my Comrades journey and so many people have shared their story with me. I have also been meaning to put together a short little video of my story for a while now but have just been busy.  Until now that is.

The reason I wanted to do this was in the build up to my first Comrades I spent hours on YouTube watching inspiring stories which helped me through my training and racing when things got difficult and I wanted to quit. I also know that my story is not unique; there are hundreds of stories just like mine, only better, which do the rounds at running clubs around the world. If this video inspires one person to turn things around in their life then I have achieved what I set out to achieve. Your goal may not be to run the Comrades Marathon or lose 50kgs like mine was. It may be to run a 5km fun run or lose 5kgs. I hope this video inspires you to make the changes needed to achieve that goal.

I love South Africa. I really do. I love being a South African. I can’t imagine being any other nationality. One of the things I love most about this country is the spirit of its people. We just never seem to want to give up. It’s that never say die attitude that I love. If you actually sit down and think about what this country has gone through since 1990 it is amazing that there has not been major bloodshed. There are many countries on this planet that have gone through half of what we have and have imploded. But we have carried on regardless and made the best of the hand we have been dealt.

We also punch above our weight limit in a big way. We believe we can chew whatever we bite off. We just do. I love that. Our sporting culture screams that. In particular South Africa’s ultra distance running culture says tons about us as a nation. Go to any other country and mention that you are running or have run a marathon (42.2km or 26 miles) and they treat you like you are an absolute rock star! And you should be treated like that. A marathon IS a big deal. It’s a hell of a long way to run in one go but more than that it takes some serious commitment and dedication to train for the actual event. Tell a South African you’re running a marathon and no one bats an eyelid.

What really got me thinking about this was all the running Read more…

As February starts to wrap up and Comrades training is in full swing the Comrades Marathon Association is putting on another round of the Bonitas Novice Project Seminars. In 2010 these talks proved to be extremely popular and this year they promise to be the same.

These seminars are an invaluable source of information for first-time Comrades Marathon Runners. The following topics will be covered in detail at these seminars:

• The importance of recovery
• Nutrition
• Qualifying
• The final long run
• Tapering
• Race day – Getting to the start, the profile, strategy.

Speakers this year include the Official Comrades Coach, Lindsey Parry, Bruce Fordyce and myself to name just a few. All the speakers will be on hand to answer all questions from the audience. Entrance to these seminars is free and bookings are not necessary but it is advisable to get to the seminars early.

This year they will be hosted at the following venues on the following dates:

22 February 2011
19h00
Sunninghill Striders Running Club
The Auditorium, Eskom Megawatt Park, No 1 Maxwell Drive Sunninghill Sandton

23 February 2011
19h00
Boksburg Athletic Club
Baseball Clubhouse  Boksburg City Stadium Cnr Dudley Smith and Jubilee Roads Boksburg

01 March 2011
19h00
acsis VOB Running Club
The Alphen Centre, Main Road,
Constantia, Cape Town

05 March 2011
09h00
Nedbank Head Office, 90 Ordnance Road, Durban

08 March 2011
19h00
L.C de VIlliers Sports Grounds
Pretoria University Sport Centre – Lecture hall 1 ; South Street, Hatfield, Pretoria