Welcome to another episode of Ask Coach Parry. The question today comes from Velappie. He says he has already qualified for the Comrades Marathon with a time of 3.33.

He would like to attempt a Bill Rowan – a sub 9 hour – and he would like to know if it is advisable to use Om Die Dam which took place this weekend to pace himself according to the ideal pace he would be running at the Comrades Marathon.

Kind of simulating race pace if you like. Also on this note he would like to add it is his 8^th run. He has done a pb at the Comrades Marathon so close to Bill Rowan with a time of 9.03.
How should it be run?

Brad Brown: Welcome to another episode of Ask Coach Parry. The question today comes from Velappie. He says he has already qualified for the Comrades Marathon with a time of 3.33.

He would like to attempt a Bill Rowan – a sub 9 hour – and he would like to know if it is advisable to use Om Die Dam which took place this weekend to pace himself according to the ideal pace he would be running at the Comrades Marathon.

Kind of simulating race pace if you like. Also on this note he would like to add it is his 8th run. He has done a pb at the Comrades Marathon so close to Bill Rowan with a time of 9.03.

How should it be run?

Lindsey: I definitely think you are a Bill Rowan candidate, based on a) your marathon and b) the fact that you have come so close. If you miss a Bill Rowan by 3 minutes – that is race day management.

That is anything from going through halfway too quickly and spending too much time at water stations, maybe stopping and talking to family, perhaps a toilet break. But, 3 minutes is course management.

It’s really just making sure that you don’t waste valuable time and that you go through half way in an appropriate time and then you should nail it. I would be cautious about going too hard at Om Die Dam.

It is far away enough from the Comrades Marathon of course that doing a Comrades Marathon pace for 50km’s of the distance should actually leave you feeling quite comfortable the next day. It is far away enough from the Comrades Marathon that you could test your pace, your walking routine, your nutrition and give yourself a pretty good idea that you will still feel pretty strong come the 50km mark at the Comrades Marathon.

But I would caution against that if your qualifier was too close. If you’re going to do that there must be at least 3 weeks between your qualifier and Om Die Dam.

If there aren’t 3 weeks between them then it is debatable whether you should be running, but then you really must ensure that you run easy.