Just 87.7km separate Wayne Spies from completing the world’s oldest and largest ultramarathon, The Comrades Marathon, for the 11th time! Billed as the ultimate human race, Comrades is an annual run that takes place in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa.
Wayne is an Abbott World Marathon Majors Six Star finisher and a shining beacon to those of us looking for the mental fortitude to conquer our running goals. He is also going to compete at the 2023 AbbottWMM Wanda Age Group World Championships in Chicago, and is gunning for a new marathon PB!
Elsewhere in the show, we hear about some of the more interesting stories from around the marathon world, including a musical marathoner, a handcuffed marathon record attempt, we reflect on the sad loss of Boston Marathon icon Rick Hoyt, and so much more!
In this episode of Marathon Talk
- 0:00 - Opening with Deena & Martin’s recent running escapades, and some strange fox stories ranging from the heart-warming to the horrible
- 7:15 - News from the running world, including an icon’s sad passing, Indoor Athletics’ new name, a remarkable barefoot run for charity, a musical marathoner, and handcuffed world records
- 25:00 - The incredible Wayne Spies joins Deena ahead of his 11th Comrades Marathon, the South African race’s staggeringly unique challenges, and he shares the inspiring Six Star journey he completed his wife
- 55:20 - Closing the show on an emotional upcoming adventure, and a camp to introduce the next generation to the joys of running
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Episode keywords
Marathon talk, abbott world marathon majors, marathon running, distance running, endurance marathon, london marathon, boston marathon, chicago marathon, new york marathon, six star finisher, wayne spies comrades marathon, comrades marathon
Episode highlights
“They have such a legacy that they’ve created with Team Hoyt, raising money for other father-child teams to accomplish these great feats together.” - 7:55 - Deena Kastor
“I think the rationale is probably to create a short track spectacle. So where can we do short track? Where on the globe could we do a pop up track?” - 12:30 - Martin Yelling
“I reckon the challenge here is not whether Deena and Andrew could run 3:43:17, or Martin and Liz could run 3:43:17. It’s whether Martin and Liz could be handcuffed together and survive a marathon distance!” - 22:00 - Martin Yelling
“Comrades, for those who aren't aware, is huge. It's an ultramarathon between two cities, Durban and Pietermaritzburg, and alternates from year to year - one in one direction, and then it switches direction the next” - 27:50 - Wayne Spies
“I can tell you several stories of how I've seen people, and even myself, helping fellow runners who have struggled, especially in that last part. That’s where you have to obviously show what they call in Africa ‘ubuntu’, which is a sort of love and a concern for your fellow runner.” - 32:10 - Wayne Spies
“My wife was a chronic asthmatic and couldn’t run 2 km. She watched the NYC Marathon in 2011, and got inspired - we ran Chicago together a few years later.” - 48:50 - Wayne Spies
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