Top 10 Female Ultra Performances of All Time

Given there are plenty of annual lists at this time of year for best performances and runners, it got me thinking about the very best ultra performances of all time. Obviously it's impossible to have some perfect formula to compare every aspect of one performance to another, but I used my own experience from road, track and trail racing (as well as coaching elite women) to consider the most impressive female runs ever and have included the equivalent list for men here.

I factor in the level of competition on the day, the level of competition that's attempted the world or course record at any point in history, weather (where applicable, like at Western States where it can vary significantly) and knowledge of the tactics and skill used to get such a great performance. I was lucky enough to see some of these performances in person or at least meet most of the runners mentioned below.

I include only one performance per race, unless the race has more than one format or direction (like Comrades with its Up and Down runs or the clockwise/anti-clockwise directions at Hardrock 100).  Also, how well these records stand the test of time is important, so a very well-challenged record from longer ago is deemed to be especially impressive.

I also work off the assumption that if a runner hasn't been caught doping then their results are legitimate, since unfounded accusations are spiteful. Anyone who is a confirmed doper is not part of this list (that I'm aware of).


No photo available of Tomoe Abe - anyone got one?

1. Tomoe Abe, Japan - 100k World Record at Lake Saroma, Japan (6:33:11, 2000)


She set the fastest 100k time for women by a long margin (nobody else has broken 7hrs and Ann Trason is one of the closest with a 7:00:47 best). I've heard that this record was set with a tailwind, but it's still so far ahead of any of the other road or track marks set by women at any ultra distance that it really stands out. To give an idea of Abe's caliber, she won the bronze medal in the marathon at the 1993 World Championships and her personal best time is 2:26:09. In addition, she ran a 2:28:01 in the same year as her 100k record and a 2:27:01 the following year so was very much at her peak at that point. This is equivalent to 5:16 for 50 miles (compared to the 5:40 world record by Ann Trason), or even quicker if she slowed towards the end of the 100k. Also, this record is surprisingly close to the men's record by Don Ritchie of 6:10:20 (number five on the top 10 all time ultra men's list).

Frith van der Merle. Photo: Sport.co.za

2. Frith van der Merwe, South Africa - Comrades Down Run Course Record (5:54:43, 1989)

van der Merwe destroyed the Comrades down run record in 1989 and nobody's come very close since, with just two other women breaking 6hrs - Ann Trason with a 5:58:24 in 1997 and Tatyana Zhirkova with 5:58:50 in 2005. van der Merwe's average pace was 6:23/mile, working out as around 5:19:30 through 50 miles with hills. The down run is usually won in a time around 6:10:00 and the record looks safe for the moment.

However, the up run course record of 6:09:24 (Elena Nurgalieva, 2006) isn't quite as comparably fast and doesn't make the top 10 list. It's 15 mins off the down run record while the men's up run record is only four minutes slower than the down run record (see the top 10 all time ultra men's list).

Rory Bosio. Photo: Tim Kemple

3. Rory Bosio, USA - UTMB Course Record (22:37:26, 2013)

The top ranked trail performance is by Rory Bosio, who decimated the Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc field two years in a row (2013 and 2014 wins), taking over two hours off the course record and finishing seventh overall in 22:37:26, well ahead of the female competition. On top of that she made it look easy, smiling and playing in the mountains throughout the race. This is arguably the most competitive trail ultra in the world and Rory was so dominant that this could easily have been number one in the list.

Ann Trason. Photo: Running Times

4. Ann Trason, USA - Grand Slam of Ultra Running Record (79:23:21, 1998)

No woman dominated ultra running like Ann Trason. 14 wins at Western States 100, including the former course record, plus wins at Comrades, the 100k World Cup and just about every major ultra you can think of in the 1990s. She also holds American and World Records at numerous distances, most of which still stand today. She generally raced the men since no women could keep up with her and the fact she has several spots in this top 10 reflects that her times are just as competitive today.

However, I judge the top-rated performance of her career as her Grand Slam of Ultra Running record, the combined time for the Western States 100, Vermont Trail 100, Leadville Trail 100 and Wasatch Front 100, all over one summer in a period of 10-11 weeks. The next best female time was nine hours back by Krissy Moehl! Ann was the female winner in each of those races, which wasn't unexpected for such a talented runner, but it speaks to her ability to not just perform well for a single target race but to manage so many other factors within ultra running to stay strong and fast through each of these races. If there was an award for the best female ultra runner of all time, it would be hard to argue against Ann as the clear winner, especially with her breadth of dominance.

Anna Frost. Photo: irunfar.com

5. Anna Frost, New Zealand - Transvulcania Course Record (8:10:41, 2014)

Anna's had numerous spectacular performances and is undoubtedly one of the best female mountain runners of all time. Her course record at the hyper competitive Transvulcania ultra on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands is something that stands out. When Anna's on top form she's like a steam train uphill and most of the very fastest mountain women of the modern era have tackled this course and not come close to this time. Only Anna herself (8:11:31 in 2012) and Skyrunning star, Emelie Forsberg (8:13:22 in 2013), have come close to this performance.

Ellie Greenwood. Photo: irunfar

6. Ellie Greenwood, Great Britain/Canada - Western States 100 Course Record (16:47:19, 2012)

When someone breaks the record by a large margin at the oldest 100-mile trail race in the world and the former record was the result of 14 wins by Ann Trason, you know it's a special performance. Yes, the weather was very mild and that made it quicker, but it was 50 mins faster than Ann's best. It may take another colder year and a group of the quickest women ever in the world to break this record. Several of the other women in this list have tried, many on more than one occasion, but Ann and Ellie are the only women to break 18hrs.

Nicole Studer. Photo: Jason Bryant

7. Nicole Studer, USA - Rocky Raccoon 100 Record and Trail World Best (14:22:18, 2015)

The 100 mile record for trails has been less tested by the quickest women in history, but is still a very solid mark. Nicole took 35 mins off the course record at Rocky Raccoon 100 in a mind-blowing performance and took 20 mins off the existing world trail best from Tunnel Hill 100, a flatter course that's arguably easier. Nicole started fast and held on for an astounding win that doubled as the USATF National Championship and not far off the 100 mile record for any type of terrain, which stands at 13:47:41 by (you guessed it) Ann Trason, dating back to 1991.

8. Ann Trason, USA - Leadville Trail 100 Record (18:06:24, 1994)

Ann's Western States wins were clearly excellent, as were many of her road and track records, but her 1994 winning time at Leadville is far ahead of any other woman at that race. The high altitude course sits between 9,200ft and 12,600ft, with around 15,000ft of vertical gain and the same descent. It includes a lot of fast, flat running but that altitude slows it significantly and many fast women have raced it, with only a handful breaking 20hrs.

Stick with me for a minute here for some back of the cigarette packet calculations...Using my own rough comparison of the Western States 100 and Leadville Trail 100 courses (from running both numerous times) I'd estimate that the male course record times (14:46 for WS100 and 15:42 for LT100) are roughly equivalent in terms of difficulty, giving the nod to Matt Carpenter's LT100 as being marginally more impressive. So I think of them as having a one hour difference for that pace, meaning around 1:10 at Ann's pace, i.e. her 18:06 at LT100 is equivalent to a sub 17hr WS100. So, pretty damned quick, then.

9. Ann Trason, USA - American River 50 Record (6:09:08, 1993)

You could pick any number of Ann's records as being amongst the best runs in the world, but the only other one I choose for the top 10 is her American River 50 record from 1993 - a race that's been competitive since it's inception in 1980. That older course was quicker than the current course and involved about 50% bike path and 50% rolling trail, but this is a record that's been tested over the years, not least by Ann herself within her five wins. The only other woman under 6:30 is Ellie Greenwood, who's career mimics many of the elements and highlights of Ann's.

10. Anna Frost, New Zealand - The North Face Endurance Challenge 50 San Francisco Record (6:56:07, 2011)

Anna's second appearance in the top 10 is at the season-ending TNFEC50 in the Marin Headlands. The large prize purse and reputation of the race means it's always got a deep field and the aggressive running for the men's record by Zach Miller from 2015 was also spectacular, narrowly missing out on inclusion in the men's top 10. It's often muddy and the rolling hills add up to around 10,000ft of vertical gain, so sub-7hrs is extremely fast and involves beating the quickest women in the world on runnable, hilly trails. In comparison, the similarly difficult Lake Sonoma 50, which also attracts a stellar field and has 10,000ft of vert, has a female course record of 7:08:23 by Steph Howe, which narrowly missed a place in this top 10.

Top 10 Male Ultra Performances of All Time

Given there are plenty of annual lists at this time of year for best performances and runners, it got me thinking about the very best ultra performances of all time. Obviously it's impossible to have some perfect formula to compare every aspect of one performance to another, but I used my own experience from road, track and trail racing to consider the most impressive male runs ever and have done the same for female performances here.

I factor in the level of competition on the day, the level of competition that's attempted the world or course record at any point in history, weather (where applicable, like at Western States where it can vary significantly) and knowledge of the tactics and skill used to get such a great performance. I was lucky enough to see some of these performances in person or at least meet most of the runners mentioned below.

I include only one performance per race, unless the race has more than one format or direction (like Comrades with its Up and Down runs or the clockwise/anti-clockwise directions at Hardrock 100). Otherwise, many of the best performances would be at Comrades due to the depth of the field at the world's largest ultra both currently and for almost 100 years in the past and it would dominate the list. Also, how well these records stand the test of time is important, so a very well-challenged record (not all have faced much competition) from longer ago is deemed to be especially impressive.

I also work off the assumption that if a runner hasn't been caught doping then their results are legitimate, since unfounded accusations are spiteful. Anyone who is a confirmed doper is not part of this list (that I'm aware of, despite allegations against some of the runners below).

Numbers 1 and 2 are Leonid Shvetsov. Photo: Comrades Marathon

1. Leonid Shvetsov, Russia - Comrades Up Run Course Record 87kms (5:24:47, 2008)

Shvetsov has a marathon best of 2:09:16 from 1997 and is a two-time Olympic Marathoner for Russia. His Comrades wins in South Africa were back-to-back and I rate his up run record from Durban to Pietermaritzburg as the better of the two, especially since very few runners can win both directions. Despite it being marginally shorter than the down run (54 miles compared to 55.5 miles), it has around 6,000ft of ascent and 4,000ft of descent and is usually much slower than the down run. The women's records are 15 minutes apart compared to just four minutes difference for the men. This race has up to 20,000 runners and just getting in the top 10 in the up run requires a 50-mile split around 5:20 with all that uphill.


2. Leonid Shvetsov, Russia - Comrades Down Run Course Record 89kms (5:20:41, 2007)

The down run at Comrades is quicker with around 4,000ft of ascent and 6,000ft of descent and this course record required an average pace of 5:46/mile or 2:31 marathon pace for more than two marathons...with hills. This record had inched down over the years and Bruce Fordyce deserves a mention here for his nine wins at Comrades and for holding the record at both the up and the down - Shvetsov broke his 5:24:07 record from 1986! The back end of the top 10 at the down run requires running around 2:40-2:45 marathon pace for this distance, with hills, something that's just plain astounding in terms of the depth of the field.

Yiannis Kouros. Photo: complex.com

3. Yiannis Kouros, Greece - 24hr World Record at a track in Adelaide, Australia (188.63 miles, 1997)

Kouros is the Lionel Messi of running with a list of world and age group world records that goes on forever. He focuses on roads and track running and dominated even into his 50s. However, many of the areas he got records in are not tested by as deep a field of runners as the other performances in this list and his stand out performance is his 24hr world record, the race format where the top 11 times ever are all by Kouros and barely anyone can even reach 90% of his mark. He also has the record for the Spartathlon race in Greece, which nobody has come close to, but this top 10 list is based on the factors mentioned at the top of the page, and even that record is not as impressive as his 24hr record. If this was a top 100 ranking, Kouros would make up a lot of the places. However, trails weren't to is liking, as shown by his sole Western States 100 run in 1988 where he was 24th overall in 20:12:54.

Matt Carpenter. Photo: Marathon & Beyond Magazine

4. Matt Carpenter, USA - Leadville Trail 100 (15:42:59, 2005)

Of all the trail records, I think this one stands out as the most impressive. Despite minor changes to the course over time, nobody has come close to Carpenter's 2005 time, where he had a level of dedication and scientific focus that I've rarely seen or heard about in any sport. The Colorado course varies between 9,200ft and 12,600ft and that altitude slows most runners considerably, but Carpenter has an ability to run at altitude that may be the best ever seen within racing globally. Over the years a lot of top level ultra runners have tested his record but none have even broken 16hrs. To back up his credentials, his seemingly untouchable Pike's Peak Marathon record is testament to this too, another record that nobody has come close to.

Don Ritchie (right). Photo: RRC

5. Don Ritchie, Great Britain - 100k World Record at a track in London, UK (6:10:20, 1978)

Don holds numerous records, including the British 100 mile record (11:30:51 in 1977), which was the world record when he ran it. He's the only person to break 6 minute/miling in the 100k and his record is older than I am (just).

Kilian Jornet. Photo: Strava

6. Kilian Jornet, Spain - Hardrock 100 Clockwise Course Record (22:41:00, 2014)

Kilian's won nearly everything, set records everywhere and is the only real global megastar in the sport ever. However, many of his most impressive performances are at sub-ultra distances and I suspect he rarely goes to 100% effort in ultras, especially given how frequently he races and how easy he looks even at finish lines. Again, he'd probably have a lot of entries in the top 100 performances, but his astounding Hardrock 100 clockwise record in Colorado's San Juans shattered the previous best and led to another win and anti-clockwise record the following year. Most amazingly is that he didn't seem to go all-out for this record and could probably go a fair bit faster. Nobody is able to touch this performance this race even through the extremely tough lottery has yielded some of the best mountain 100-milers to have a try.

Rob Krar. Photo: Competitor Magazine

7. Rob Krar, USA - Western States 100 (14:48:59, 2015)

Rob is probably the best ultra runner currently competing at a high level not named Kilian and those two have only raced once, with Rob taking the win at the 2013 UROC 100k to Kilian's 4th. When he's in race mode he could probably run through a brick wall without noticing and this level of focus and toughness got him wins at California's Western States 100 in 2014 and 2015. He's the only man to break 15hrs twice and narrowly missed the course record by two minutes, despite temperatures around 30 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than the record-setting year of 2012 (by Timmy Olson). His tactics were perfectly executed on the day for one of the finest ultra races ever.

Xavier Thévenard. Photo: nordicmag.info

8. Xavier Thévenard, France - UTMB Course Record For New Longer Course 170kms (21:09:15, 2015)

Even though the UTMB course around Mt Blanc has been getting slightly longer over the last few years and the level of competition is arguably the highest at any trail ultra globally, Thévenard repeated his previous victory and decimated the field with a tactically perfect race with a 48-minute margin of victory at the finish.


No photo available - anyone got a picture of Magawana?

9. Thompson Magawana, South Africa - Two Oceans Course Record 56kms and 50k World Record (3:03:44, 1988, with the 50k WR set as a split at 2:43:38)

Raced in Cape Town in South Africa, this is another long-standing record and included the 50k world record as well, even more impressive since the 50k mark is at the top of the largest climb in the race before a fast 6k to the finish. This record includes 2:18 marathon pace for an extra third of a marathon, with two significant hills, plus the 50k record is at 2:17 pace, suggesting that Magawama had to hammer that hill to break from his competitors then held on for the win in the easier final kms. The combination of speed and competitiveness in this event makes it the fastest ultra in the world, as well as the second biggest after Comrades.

Alastair J Wood. Photo: scottishrunninghistory.co.uk

10. Alastair J Wood, Great Britain - London to Brighton Course Record 54 miles (5:11:00, 1972)

The 'other AJW' was a Scot and a 2:13 marathoner who held the European Record for the marathon. London to Brighton was started in 1952 through the inspiration of Comrades champion, Arthur Newton, who moved to the UK from South Africa and wanted to recreate his home country's banner race with a similar distance, hilly, point-to-point course. Several winning times were very close to the 1972 record, including Bruce Fordyce in the third of his three wins in 1983 (5:12:32, which includes the official 50-mile road world record of 4:50:21). However, Wood's win suggests a split of 4:48 for 50 miles, which is around the same split as for Leonid Shvetsov in his Comrades down run record. This race was the first ultra I ever ran and it was also the final running of this classic event (2005), so it holds a special place in my heart and if you've never heard of it, have a read about it's insanely fast history here.

2010 was fun

Now I've run my last race for the year, I thought I'd quickly sum up some of the highlights.

Last weekend I was meant to run the PCTR Rodeo Beach 50k, but about halfway through (when walking up yet another hill), I realised that my legs just weren't trained well enough for the hills and finishing would have just left me a bit crippled during the week. So I stopped at 30k having got some good flat and downhill practice in and having realised that zero hill training outside of races is a bad idea and will be remedied.

So, what were the best bits of 2010 (I'm going to exclude my wedding and stick to races or the list would be too long, too personal and even less interesting for anyone except myself)?

Well, it was basically a successful year. The main target was to break 6h at Comrades, and 6h01m may seem like a failure, but I ran near to a perfect race on the day and am very happy with how I kept shifting to a higher gear to finish strongly. I want to keep a streak going there for as long as possible since I love it, so it's a shame it takes about 40 hours to get to.

My next biggest highlight would be the number of really enjoyable runs I had, with several great events that felt easy and had me smiling the whole way through (not even a hint of a grimace). In particular, Two Oceans, Boston and Miwok spring to mind.

One thing I didn't expect on moving to the Bay Area was to find a gem of a race series in the Pacific Coast Trail Runs. These always have a great atmosphere for beginners to elites, as well as showcasing some spectacular scenery. I've been able to meet the local running community through these runs and I definitely like it.

There are too many other races to mention, but Western States was the other main event for the year. It was both a great experience and slightly overhyped but there's no doubt that the battle at the front of the men's race was something which will go down in history. I'm really looking forward to running it in 2011, possibly even more than 2010, especially now I know what I'm letting myself in for.

I've got a lot of great memories from 2010 on the trails and roads so I hope 2011 can live up to it. Unless I get injured, it should. A few other recommendations for ultrarunners are below, since these produced moments which brought home what a cool sport ultrarunning is:

1. Do some kind of Fat/Mad/Bad Ass race in the New Year. There are loads around and are so relaxed and so a perfect way to start 2011.

2. Finishing up the Eiffel Tower made the Eco Trail de Paris really worth entering. I think there'll be plenty of Serpie vests at the 2011 version.

3. Run one of the South African major ultras at some point in your life. Two Oceans is prettier and has the bonus of a trip to beautiful Cape Town, but Comrades is the daddy. Bigger, harder, older and basically more epic. I'm so glad I got to do both this year, however, it's too far to fit them both in every year so I'll have to wait for another chance to run Two Oceans again. And when I do, I'll be really excited about it. There's something special about a country that venerates ultrarunning above shorter distances.

4. Do a triple marathon or other multi-day race since there's no better way to get an instant 'we're all in it together' atmosphere. In the UK, the VOTwo events are perfect (Jurassic Coast and Atlantic Coast come highly recommended). But the best one has to be the Transalpine 8-dayer (and so I'd love to try the Trans Rockies 6-dayer too) and I'm gutted to have missed it this year. Luckily for Californians, Tahoe has options with PCTR organising some new stuff (including a 2-dayer) as well as the classic Tahoe triple on the roads. Or there's the numerous Marathon des Sables-type events in deserts around the world. But in general, these are some of the best events around and don't need to break the bank (except the desert races).

5. Run in the Marin Headlands. There are so many races there and many are extremely competitive, especially Miwok 100k and TNF Endurance Challenge Championship 50-miler. PCTR has loads of runs there too, and these have the benefit of not requiring lotteries to enter (like Miwok) and not always being in December (like TNFEC). On a clear day, there's probably nowhere I'd rather do a training run and even in the rain, it's hard not to smile even on the umpteenth huge hill.

Merry Christmas and good luck in 2011 with whatever your running goals are.

Back to the trails but got to fix the overtraining syndrome

This is how I feel way too often right now.

The past month and a half has been a veritable race drought for me, which should have given me a chance to relax and recover during the wedding and honeymoon. It did, but I'm now certain that I went into it overtrained since I've been showing most of the symptoms:

1. Fatigue - fairly normal, but not all the time.
2. Sore legs - generally aching.
3. Lethargy - virtually every run, even a slow jog, feels like an effort.
4. Lack of enjoyment and desire to run - have been particularly uninspired recently.
5. Inability to do hard training sessions - I've tried but generally had to stop since it wasn't feeling right.

And the list goes on much longer. From reading the excellent 'Lore of Running' by Tim Noakes, I'm picking up some useful refinements to everything running related, but his chapter on overtraining was sober reading. Supposedly I'm at a stage now where it could be up to two months of virtually no training (and certainly nothing hard) to let my body rest and recover. That sounds like about the hardest type of training I've ever thought of. The idea of letting years of effort and improvement temporarily go, even for longer term benefit, is depressing.

So I'm now in a dilemma, except I already know the answer. Do I cut my running down to just the odd jog every few days until I start to feel really refreshed and normal again? Or do I still do the races I've entered over the next couple of months, at a rate of at least one a week? Well, I've paid for stuff and I also can't really afford to let the training completely go if I want to run well at either the North Face Championship in December or go for a marathon PB at Phoenix in January (never mind the need to get a lot of miles in for Rocky Raccoon's 100 miles of trails in early February).

I know everyone goes through injury periods and that overtraining is extremely common, even though people often ignore it (like I have). And I don't want to wreck my body and cut short a running life that I'm hoping will last around 60 years longer (sorry, Amy). So there's only one sensible way forward, although the use of the word sensible may be stretching it slightly - do the races really easily where possible but basically nothing else. I mean, I was tired in my last marathon a couple of weeks ago, but I still did my second quickest time and that was running solo the whole way. So there's something left in the tank.

But I'm going to reserve the right to DNF races where it just feels way too hard when I'm going slowly. Not because I'd worry about finishing, but because I'm worried about what it'll do to me after I finish. And I'll not run at all mid-week from now on until I feel better so I get the maximum recovery possible. It all starts this weekend with the Redwood 50k and the Quicksilver half marathon. Two very hilly trail races and I suspect I'll just about walk the latter for safety (but I've paid for the entry so I can still use the aid stations).

The following week may be tougher since it's the Tahoe triple marathon and I really want to get the win at this after second last year. Maybe just play that by ear and see where I stand after the first day of not going too hard.

All I know is it'll be really tough to not run, I'm going to have to start eating less and disengaging the competitive instincts could be about as easy as sawing off my own arm (like in the new Danny Boyle film). If I'm lucky I'll feel ok during the races and be able to enjoy them instead of struggling and also going slower. I know the stuff I did back in March/April was a lot of fun and that involved a lot of taking in the sights and running rather than racing. Two Oceans was one of the most fun events I've done because of the relaxed attitude I had to it, as was last year's Transalpine Run (which just happened this year again and I followed avidly and jealously online).

I hope everyone else is feeling more energised than me, but I look forward to waking up a bit if the reduction in mileage pays off. I'd be interested to hear any stories people have about overtraining or links to interesting articles/blogs. Thanks.

Two Oceans (Ultra) Marathon Easter Weekend

View from Chapman's Peak around 32km (I think)

Noordhoek beach, just before running up Chapman's Peak

The 18km trail run

Finishing the 18km trail run with Dave Pearse

Great views on Table Mt with Helen, Gwen and Dave in the trail run

More trail run shots

Trail running again

The finish line of the trail and ultra runs

La Med bar with sunset reddening Table Mt

Often windy in Cape Town

Expo fun with too many free hair products

There are many, many races on my ‘must-do’ list, but one which I’d been particularly looking forward to since I first heard about it is the Two Oceans Marathon in Cape Town, South Africa. As is clear from previous postings about Comrades, I’m a big fan of the venerable and huge Saffer races and Two Oceans has a great history of 40 years (this year was number 41 and one guy was racking up his 40th finish). It isn’t quite as big as Comrades but still had over 8,000 ultra runners, plus around 10,000 running the relatively new half marathon course instead.

As with Comrades, the race has different medals for different times, giving a huge incentive for runners to speed up if they’re close to a medal cut-off. These cut-offs are at each hour from four hours to the final cut at seven hours – four hours is a silver medal, five is a Sainsbury medal (named after a previous winner), six is bronze and seven is blue. The top 10 men and women get gold medals, just as with Comrades. But since the race is a fair bit shorter, at 56km (35 miles) instead of 89km (55.5 miles), it’s not nearly so taxing on the body.

Another big similarity is the named, famous hills in the race. In this case it’s just two major hills, peaking at 34km (Chapman’s Peak) and 46km (Constantia Nek), but they are enough to slow you down considerably and to throw off your pacing for a particular medal. The generally acknowledged wisdom is that you need to be ahead of your desired pace at half way to allow for fatigue and the final hill.

There are only a few things I knew about the race in advance, but these were enough to excite me. Firstly, the Comrades-esque style of the race with medals, hills etc and that the silver medal is a lot harder to achieve than at Comrades. Secondly, that it’s a stunningly beautiful course. And thirdly, that it runs along the coastline of the Indian and Atlantic Oceans, which give it the name. However, it seems the actual meeting point on the coast is really Cape Agulhas, which is further east, so the eastern side is technically still the Atlantic. But that’s like fussing over the magnetic or true poles and doesn’t alter how special the race is.

When I arrived in Cape Town I have to admit I didn’t know much about the city either, except that Table Mountain is in the middle of the city. I didn’t realise just how beautiful the entire city is, especially when viewed from the Mountain or from Lion’s Head peak to the north-west. I was staying with my friend, Dave Pearse, again after having enjoyed his hospitality in Durban for the previous two Comrades. It was helpful to have a local to show me around and to appreciate the great lifestyle that the locals live, thanks to their incredible location.

As well as enjoying the area’s restaurants, bars and general scenery, I’d agreed to do the 18km trail race on Good Friday, which uses Table Mountain to great effect. The month of March had been one of high mileage and a lot of tough races for me so I came to Two Oceans with the aim of just enjoying myself and not facing much racing pressure (although I wanted a silver medal still for sub four hours). The trail race the day before the main event fitted in with this philosophy and led to some jaw-dropping views in the early morning sun.

I took it easy with Durbanites Helen Lucre and Dave as well as one of their Capetonian friends, Gwen van Lingen. We took almost three hours to get round the course, partly due to starting far back and being in single file through the narrow trails, but this easier pace certainly suited me. It wasn’t quite as relaxing for Gwen (and maybe Helen too) given she’s a former Olympian and captain of the South African women’s Olympic team (Helen is a mere triple winner of Comrades...). Both ladies have also won Two Oceans, in impressive times of 3h41m (Gwen) and 3h49m (Helen...note that time for later on). One thing you certainly notice quickly is that Saffers don’t take any crap and always say what they think. I’m sure lots of people are offended but it’s fun to get away from the overly-PC western world sometimes. Mind you, the way I’ve just worded that was very inoffensive, while I could have put it more rudely. It was certainly a pleasure to run with the three of them and it’s always inspiring to talk to athletes who’ve got to a top level.

The trail run was a massive photo shoot for me and I couldn’t stop taking photos given the views. It really got me in the mood for the main race, although the 6:25am start wasn’t quite as appealing. At least it’s almost an hour later than Comrades starts and is also 25 minutes after the gun goes for the half marathoners.

The start feels very much like Comrades as it’s pre-dawn and there are so many people around, with seeding pens too. A sub three-hour marathon gets into the first pen, ‘A’, and it felt relaxed as there was more space in it than I’m used to. Even though only gun times exist in order to make the cut-offs for medals exact, Championchips are used to give accurate and efficient timing. So in the few minutes before the race started, the ‘B’ pen athletes are allowed to move forward and quickly push right up. The start was delayed five minutes to allow the half marathoners to clear the part of the ultra course they use. Mining songs and the national anthem are played, but it doesn’t feel quite as magical as Comrades. Very close, but the best way to describe it all is like a ‘Mini-Me’ version of Comrades – less people, shorter and less intimidating. That’s partly due to the race being used as training for Comrades for many runners and also that it’s newer and has fewer runners. But don’t get me wrong, it’s still got a great atmosphere and blows away any normal city marathon except Boston. It also has better scenery than Comrades, although the first 16km is fairly average as you run to the first coastline.

When the gun finally went off, it had started drizzling but this soon stopped and it was refreshing in the surprising morning warmth. The start was even more like a stampede than Comrades. Runners with ‘B’ and ‘C’ seedings zoomed off into the distance as if it was a 10k race. I managed to resist the temptation to go too fast and stuck around my target pace of just over four-minute kms. The huge crowd of runners made the first kms fly by and this was the first time I used my heart rate monitor to stop me from exerting myself too hard. I wanted to stay well under my normal marathon heart rate so that it would all feel comfortable, even at the end. One day I’d like to race it all out, but 2010 was not the year I wanted to try it as other races are taking precedence.

The sun was up by the 10k marker and the course turned left after about 14ks and into a headwind. Cape Town hadn’t shown me much of its famous windiness up to this point and race day was really quite still, but the days afterwards showed just how blustery it can be and that could really upset your race strategy.

We soon hit the coast and had a pleasant run with great Ocean views. I’d run past a couple of groups of runners around the further back female gold medallists (called ‘buses’ in South Africa) and kept wanting to just sit on a bus but felt fine going faster so didn’t hang around with any of them long. For the first half marathon it’s almost completely flat and many people go much too fast as a result, trying to ‘bag’ a few minutes for the hills. I went through in 1h25m which seemed reasonable as it was only slightly above silver medal pace of 1h30m.

Things start to get more interesting from halfway at 28km as the first proper hill starts there. It climbs for about 2ks to Little Chappies, and then dips before ascending more steeply to 34km along the Chapman’s Peak scenic drive route. And it certainly is beautiful. Too many runners stuck to the inside to get a racing line but I made sure I was on the outside of the road so I could get a better view over the short wall by the cliff edge. Music dotted the route, either live or through speakers, and this helped boost the runners well. Many had started slowing much earlier and some were even walking this hill. The fact I was going strong gave me some confidence and also allowed me to fully take in the surroundings, which is something I often can’t fully appreciate when racing hard.

From 34km to the marathon mark was mainly downhill and fast. I’d been warned that going too hard is dangerous here as it tires the legs too much for later, but I just cruised down and was still able to gain a few minutes. There are more supporters around the 42.2km timing mat and the road is surrounded by trees and Cape Town’s specific brand of mountains. It would be a shame for anyone to not take these in, but by this point a lot of people were flagging. Supposedly there are a lot of marathon PBs as splits in the Two Oceans race, which sounds ridiculous, but the hill isn’t too high and having a downhill for the last 8ks of a marathon helps to negate the fatigue which can slow people down at that point.

The marathon mark also signals the start of the hardest part of the race, the steepest and biggest hill up Constantia Nek. It rises from sea level to around 220m (700ft) mainly over the 2.5ks to 46.5km. Most people were walking or jogging very slowly here, as would be expected. But because I had kept my effort level (and heart rate) down I had a good run up and got a lot of crowd support as a result. The hill never seems to end, but by this point in the race there are water tables every km, which means you barely go past one before you see the next. Most have water, Powerade and Coke, but a few have food. I’d done my homework and knew there was chocolate at the 46km table so looked forward to a reward for climbing the hill. I’d used up the two gels I’d decided to bring at 30km and 40km so the chocolate was my plan to get me in to the finish, which I expected to be 10ks of almost all downhill.

However, just a few minutes after peaking, the course heads up yet again in a hill I didn’t expect. That takes the runners to 50km before a few kms of steeper downhill, with a nasty camber. I went through the 50k split in 3h25m, which was a PB, but I’ve only ever done one 50k and it was a training run to pace for three-hour marathon pace, so if I didn’t beat it I’d have little chance of getting that silver.

Up to this point I’d felt much better than usual for a road race and it was good to feel like I could easily keep the pace up for longer than the required 56km. I’m almost tempted to do this more often, but I do already – most of my marathons are off pace, they just aren’t as pretty as around Cape Town. I’d highly recommend taking this course a little easy, since you need more energy for the later hills and it just makes the experience much more enjoyable. Once in a while, anyway.

I didn’t like the camber between 50km and about 53km, so tried running in the gutter so that my knees wouldn’t be strained. Then I saw the fourth placed woman ahead so sped up to catch her. Next was the third place lady, who was going a little faster. I checked my watch and saw that if I could go faster for the last 3km then I’d probably sneak in under Helen’s PB of 3h49m and that was more than enough incentive. As banter goes, saying that I sped up to beat her time was the ideal thing to do for the pub later (it’s a South African thing). I went for a big kick to the end and flew past the third lady and her bike camera crew (the whole race is on national television and she was the next gold medallist due to finish).

I’d sped up to around marathon pace and was overtaking a lot of people, even though they were very spaced out. It felt amazing to have so much energy left at the end, but the slight undulations did make it hard to sustain. The last 400m is on bumpy grass and that also made it energy-sapping to keep up, but when you can see the finish and the crowd’s cheering, the adrenaline comes to the fore. I finished in 3h48m14s with a negative split for the race. I’d expected to lose some time on the uphills, but the downhills had more than made up for it.

As I crossed the line I realised how much the silver medal meant to me. I’d been blasé about it in advance, but if I’d missed out I would have been dismayed and would have questioned my fitness. I didn’t need the sprint finish and it went against my plan to be conservative so that the previous month’s work wouldn’t be spoiled by a stupid muscle pull or overuse injury, but luckily I got away with it and the training benefit should help with Comrades.

I went to the tent by the finish for international runners and watched my local friends finish over the rest of the morning, as well as two other Londoners I knew, Angus Searcy and Cleo Oliver. All had a lot of fun and we foreigners enjoyed our first Two Oceans marathon. I’ll be back for this one, but it’s so far from the US that it may not be very often. A trip to Cape Town is an excellent holiday and I can’t think of a better race to add in while there (although they do have a few good ones in and around the city). There was only one thing left to do post-race, and that was to enjoy a few beers in the sun.