When races are not about speed
05 Dec 2009
The general idea of racing is to see what the least amount of time is that you can take to cover a set, normally standard distance, between the start and finish line.

When looking at pure performance the tendency is to go for flat or slightly undulating courses and good conditions as they provided the best comparisons. Sometimes however there focus is against recognizable standards and in which case the results allow for the inherent challenges of the course. Comrades, and even Two Oceans are typical examples of this, where running a gold, silver, Sainsbury or Bill Rowan are well established achievements for ‘the better’ club runners.

Sometimes however races simply aren’t worth putting your best effort into, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t worth entering. This said, too few runners make these two clear cut distinctions and so end up in the dreaded ‘grey area’ self-creating a lose-lose situation.

Sani stagger is one such extreme example: there are a few runners for whom there can be the draw card of a top place, prize money, and recognition of being a mountain goat of supreme speed, but for the majority there is as much chance of putting in a good performance on these rock-strewn alpine switchbacks as there is of Bafana Bafana winning the world cup. But that does not mean there are not some real attractions and even benefits of using the event for training.

To read more go to www.pmb42.co.za and follow the Training Tips link.