The second half of the Comrades Marathon down run is brutal. There is no other way to describe it. After what a is rather challenging run up until that point, you reach the 39km to go board and the next 10km on the Comrades down run is what does most of the damage to already tired legs.
You’ll descend down Botha’s Hill and then you’ll reach the top of the infamous Fields Hill where you’ll get you first glimpse of Durban. The gradient coming down Botha’s will hurt already tired quads and then combination of the gradient and camber on Fields Hill will leave you wondering what happened to your legs when you hit Pinetown.
It is vital that you do not push to hard on that stretch of the down run to make up for lost time. If you do, you are in for a very long final quarter of the race. On today’s Ask Coach Parry Podcast, Comrades Coach Lindsey Parry talks you through the second half of the Comrades Marathon down run. This is the third of a three part series that will guide you through the Comrades Marathon down run (Here are the previous articles in this series: Part 1 – The Start of the Comrades Marathon down run and Part 2 – The First Half of the Comrades Marathon down run.)