Comrades Marathon - 30 May 2010
Once again long-distance running fans will be able to watch coverage of South Africa's world-famous Comrades Marathon live on the internet this year. It's being run a week Sunday (30 May 2010) so start planning your lives now.

Last year was the first time it was done and it was a resounding success and this year the organisers plan on building on that by offering online coverage again, and constant Twitter updates at https://twitter.com/comradesm2010 along with the usual TV and radio coverage.

The race is a bit of a tradition in South Africa and my family. Even if you're not competing, you're almost certain to know someone who is, so almost everyone spends the day following the events on TV or the radio. Not being in South Africa anymore, this was a tradition I've had to miss out on, but not anymore.

This year's down run (from Pietermaritzburg to Durban) is sure to be a bumper one. It's the 85th running of the race and it's drawn a whopping 23565 entries of which about 92% are expected to make it to the start line. If the past is anything to go by, we can expect well over 17500 finishers (about 75%). That is just phenomenal and you can certainly understand why Comrades is the world's largest ultra-marathon.

Comrades is now back on my list of to-dos, though not sure I'll do it barefoot. My cousin, Simon, and two of my uncles (Dave and Mark) have run it several times each and it's about time another member of the Seymour family ran it.