Durban — It won’t be the first time Ballito’s Barry Holland will line up at the start of the Comrades Marathon but he’s aiming for his 50th finish.
Holland, 72, will join thousands of runners outside the Durban City Hall on June 9 for the run to Pietermaritzburg, but will stand prepared to become the first person to finish 50 Comrades.
Holland said he felt as if he had been running all his life, and believed he was ready to claim the honour.
Originally from Brits in the North West, he recalled how he would prepare for the race each year, tackling hills and running more than 100km every week on the East Rand of Joburg.
He said he believed people who trained in Gauteng did better than many runners from different parts of the country.
“The East Rand in particular provides very good training conditions and in those days I would do 100km or even more each week,” said Holland.
Over the years, the legendary runner’s exploits have become one of the features of the race.
Nowadays his training regime has been reduced, but despite this adjustment, he said he was confident it would be sufficient to see him through to Pietermaritzburg. He agreed it would not be easy being an up run, but believed he had built sufficient physical and mental strength.
“I am training but obviously not as intensely as I used to during my younger days. I know the importance of preserving the energy to enable this body to remain mobile throughout those hours and conditioning ahead of the race is part of it,” he said.
Having run his first race in 1973, Holland hopes his feat will encourage other budding runners. He has been a member of various athletics clubs over the years and collected medals in the Comrades and other marathons but for him the key remained the enjoyment of the race.
Independent on Saturday