How old is too old to run your first Comrades Marathon?
How old is too old to run your first Comrades Marathon?
How old is too old when it comes to running the Comrades Marathon? It is often said that you shouldn’t run a race as tough and as long as the Comrades when you are too young, but what about the other end of the scale? Today’s question is short and sweet, coming in from Chris. Chris says he’s 56 years old, he will be attempting his first Comrades Marathon in 2015 and he wants to know is it possible at the age of 56?
What are you training for?
Click on any of the images below to download your training program now
Brad Brown: How old is too old when it comes to running the Comrades Marathon? It is often said that you shouldn’t run a race as tough and as long as the Comrades when you are too young, but what about the other end of the scale? Today’s question is short and sweet, coming in from Chris. Chris says he’s 56 years old, he will be attempting his first Comrades Marathon in 2015 and he wants to know is it possible at the age of 56?
Lindsey Parry: It is definitely possible. We don’t know a heap about his background and how much running he has or hasn’t done. There are a couple of other factors that may or may not make it possible for him to finish comrades, and starting Comrades at 56 is certainly not one of them!
There are loads of examples of people who have finished Comrades at 56. Get in touch via the Ask Coach Parry website or twitter, but get in touch and give a little bit more detail. Your age may be a limiting factor but it’s not going to stop you finishing the Comrades Marathon.
Subscribe to RUN with Coach Parry
Done the down run years ago. would love to do the up. getting on a bit now. so all advice welcome!
Yay! I get to crow about running my first Comrades at 57! Completed this year’s down run in 10h44, and looking forward to next year’s race, and to bettering my time. Anything to be scared of? Not if you’ve trained adequately and approach it sensibly, and join a running club.
I started running two years ago, after a 35 year lay-off (national service had switched me off running). I built up my racing slowly, from 10k to 21k to 32k over the first 12 months, then jumped to 50 and 56k, before the 90 of Comrades. My training runs averaged 4 to 6 sessions per week in the good times – good, because there were some layoffs for injury recovery. One set of hills and one set of track sprints per week. One race per weekend, and in the second year a long run (20-25k) on the Sunday as well, which gave me a total of 900k in the Jan to June period this year.
As far as injuries were concerned, I felt that it really took 2 years to prepare the body adequately for the rigours of serious running: I went through the usual temporary adaptation ailments, from forefoot to achilles to patella to itb. There were times when I pushed too hard, and was forced to rest, sometimes for a couple of weeks at a time, but that’s how you get to know your body and it’s limits. So I have invested in a great biokineticist for strength training and a sports physio for regular myofascial massage. Gym once or twice a week for some Pilate’s and core strengthening, and swimming for some cross-training. The result? I lost 5 kilos of weight, stabilising at my old army weight of 75k, and feel in the best shape of my life.
And to top it off, my social life blossommed by discovering the wonderful world of running and all the fantastic people in it. I must confess that, had it not been for the social side, I would not have managed this whole process on my own. It’s tough, but with the generous advice of old hands in my running club, the obstacles and difficulties were overcome. Too old? Comrades 2015, here I come.