The Comrades Spirit

The Comrades Spirit touches most that come into contact the Comrades Marathon. One way of seeing it, is as kind of energy that creates when the people of Comrades get together. The flow of energy lights corners in them too often left dark; lights the space between them connecting them; and that energy enables life to bubble, sparkle, flash and flare as it should and as it could.

The People of Comrades

The people of Comrades are many:

• of course the runners: current, past, future, even those who avoid it
• Spectators on the side of the road
• Sponsors who help to make the run possible and the spectacle that it is
• Volunteers who do so much before and after the run; those who help on the day with such a wide range of things – from massaging sore legs to handing out water, energy drinks and more on the day. Even those who enforce the rules, like not running with an mp3 player or pinning the race number in the wrong place
• Organisers and custodians of the event and their staff
• The Elders: those involved for much of their lives, the wisdom providers from the public coaches and those who promote the race – those who organise training runs and provide advice and encouragement to runners in all the towns, across most of the running clubs of South Africa.
• TV watchers and beyond.
• Friends, families and supporters of the runners
• Restaurant, pub, car-hire (most of them), petrol station, airport, hotel staff who have to deal with hobbling runners and smelly shoes.

Opening oneself

You have to open yourself to the experience. It’s easy enough to look at the event and say its just another over-hyped run. It’s easy enough for runners to arrive in ‘Maritzburg or Durban, register, run and go home.

Closed, wrapped people may not experience much of the spirit, though I doubt they can escape it completely.

There can be so much more. To get some of it, to contribute to the COmrades Spirit to taste it and make the most of it, you have to be open, engage be able to receive and give. Best of all is when you add to your colours to the flow.

Goodwill

Some of the Comrades spirit is shared with other runs maybe other events. More of it is unique. Just one of its dimension shows how powerful the Comrades Spirit is.

The Comrades marathon generates an enormous amount of goodwill.

It’s huge and freely given. Everyone, runner, supporter, helper, watcher wants the success of each runner. Will engage to try to ensure the success of every runner from winner to those who spend most of the day on the road. It’s weird in a time when goodwill is hard to find, when conflict,  jealousy, callousness, commercialism are more prominent.

The Comrades Spirit is best shown in the stories of the spirit, the stories of everyone who is part of this ultimate event.