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A band of 11 Jerseymen are this weekend taking on one of the world's largest and toughest races.
The group of endurance runners are joining more than 25,000 other competitors to take on South Africa’s notorious 87km uphill ‘ultra-marathon'.
Seven of the group hailing from Jersey signed up for the ‘Comrades Marathon’ - as the race is known - last year after completing the Ironman 140.2 race in Italy. Since then, Matthew Morel, Dan Noding, Mark Grenyer, Spencer Daley, Alun Roberts, John Pirouet and Dave Double have been training together through a series of sprint sessions, hill drills and long-distance training runs.
Four more Jersey runners, Jason Bingham, Stuart Pinnington, Matt Creed and Graham Marshall, have joined the group to take on the challenge.
Pictured: The Jerseymen are gearing up for the 87km race this weekend (Matthew Morel).
Of this weekend’s race, Matthew said: “This year’s race is from Durban to Pietermaritzburg; so uphill. They alternate the route each year from an uphill run to a downhill run. Friends of mine from South Africa who have successfully completed both run routes say that the uphill route is easier!”
The aim of the game is to complete the 87km course in the twelve-hour allocated time frame.
On average, less than half (around 10,000) of the 25,000 entrants manage this.
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