Martin Connell completed the Comrades Ultra marathon in 9 hours 31 minutes a great achievement. Martin describes the race "A fantastic day! Comrades is a massive race with so much going, for the people of South Africa it's like a national holiday, like the FA Cup and Wimbledon finals in one 12 hour blitz. Last years race was tough, calf taped up and couldn't run at 100%, I had the lowest point I've ever been in a race, literally in tears but still finished. So the thought of going back for more of that? No tears this time. Was with the sub 9 pacing medal group till half way, the course is up hill the first 45km. Calf started cramping a little at 50k, so pace dropped slightly. I was in such a positive state of mind, I didn't care I was having so much fun with the course, crowd and atmosphere. I could batter myself to get a low 9:00 9:10 or just relax and enjoy for the same medal. So that's what I did. Still making good pace, but high fiveing all the kids, soaking up the atmosphere, chatting to fellow runners, I've never enjoyed a race or laughed and smiled as much. Yes Comrades is like a national holiday with people partying, having BBQs and you're running right in the middle of it. Special feeling like no other race I've done, felt very privileged, after some tough hills in the last 12k, ran /walk to a comfortable 9:30 finish time and sprinted into the stadium. Two medals for me for doing both courses back to back years. So happy. Mind blowing day. The history, the different medals/ cut offs, the atmosphere all work perfectly together to make the best mass participation running event in the world. Amazing. If you've done a marathon under 4:30 4:45 you should think about doing this one time in your life. Or twice. Or ?