Packing for Comrades (and the other 15 days of my trip to Southern Africa), was a challenge.
For the Down Run, the start in Pietermaritzburg is known to be chilly. Now, what’s chilly for a South African (or Texan) and what’s chilly for my New Englander and Canadian friends is two different things. I will say, though, that I wasn’t ever overheated with my pre-race and early race ensemble.
What To Wear For Comrades Race
My first layer was my race uniform: USA singlet and Texas flag running shorts. I also had five paper bracelets (bus ticket to the start, Complete Marathons Marquee service, International Tent access at the finish, and two pace bands—10.30 and 11 hours) and the beaded bracelet I received when I visited Ethembeni School on the course bus tour. I have never worn so many bracelets before in my entire life for any event, much less a race!
The next layer of clothes I would wear both pre-race and in the early hours included the Toyota gloves I got in my Comrades goody bag at the Expo and the red arm sleeves I made from my middle kid’s old holey soccer socks. I also had a beanie hat I got in my goody bag at the Miracle Match 50K, which I wore inside out so as to not violate the strict “guerilla marketing” rules of South African Athletics. I wore all three of these items until nearly Umlass Road, remembering from the advice given on the bus tour that there would be pockets of chilly air after descending Polly Shortts and for a bit thereafter.
The top layer was an old pair of sweatpants (sadly now too snug for regular wearing) and my beloved Lululemon teal zip up hoodie that had a hole in the underarm (not repairable). I wore these until Chariots of Fire played, at which point I took them off and handed them to a grateful bystander.
I also had a bag of food that I took with me to the start. I included a half PB&J sandwich, a banana, and a Luna Bar. It also had a bottle of Tailwind I mixed in an Energade bottle. (Read my pre-race story to find out if I ate this veritable feast.)
My trusty Texas Flag shorts—y’all, I’ve had these since 1998, and the elastic is still functional—held a single vanilla Gu, blister band aids, friction block, and lip balm, and a bag of Sport Beans which really held two bags’ worth of the electrolyte nuggets. (The clip on water spout didn’t make the final cut…it went into the first of my marquee bags, where it stayed the entire race.)
I used the Bruce Fordyce Complete Marathons marquee service so I could have three drop bags (and clean porta potties) along the course. If you don’t have a support crew on the course, read my full review to see why I recommend using this service.
When I crossed the finish line—wait…..let’s look at that one more time:
….my husband greeted me and walked me to the International Tent where he had my finish bag, which I had packed and dropped off at the Expo the day before the race. Hot tip: if your supporters will be at the finish, give them the collection tag for your finish bag so it can be waiting for you when you’re tired and sweaty.
In my finish bag I had packed:
- non running shoes and clean socks
- a small towel
- nicely scented facial wipes (for a quick and refreshing wipe down of many stinky parts of me)
- a mylar blanket from the Dallas Marathon
- gloves
- a camisole (in case I had bad chafing from my running bra, which I did not HOORAY!)
- a long sleeve t-shirt
One thing to keep in mind in packing the post-race bag is that the vast majority of Comrades finishers hang out in the stadium until the final 12 hour gun is fired. I was hoping that I’d be there for an hour or more, in which case I would likely be cold and want the gloves and mylar blanket. As it turns out, I was there only a bit over 30 minutes until the grand finale. Although we hung around longer than that, by the time I started to get chilly I was ready to leave and make my way back to the hotel.
After a long day on the course, it was a thrill to turn around and see so many others who had spent time, money, and energy to achieve this common goal.
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