I am sure the heat played a role. I am lucky that I can handle heat. (Not so much for my training buddy...) I think it got to him and that is why he started throwing up. He still finished though. I think one of the factors is definitely the heat and then waterpoints not having water. Runners had no choice but to drink the terrible sweet Energade, which they are not used to. I saw on Facebook lots of people got sick along the road. One of my club mates got sick because she drank water from a hose... Not sure if the drinking water is safe along the route?? (That was her reasoning...) I still wonder though if it was the heat. This year Om Die Dam, Loskop and Irene Ultra were all very hot. Most ultra runners should be used to it. I know runners that were way better prepared than previous years and they didn't finish. I guess it all depends on the day. This poses my following question: Is the qualifying time of 5 hours to lenient? If you qualify in 4:55 will you be able to finish Comrades? (One of club mates qualified at Wally in 4:59:23 ) She just made Comrades with a minute to spare. 4:59 for a marathon means a pace of 7 min/km. At Comrades, you can easily add a min per km which is 8 min per km. That gives you 11:36 for the up run if everything is going well... then if you start in H it takes you 10 min + to get over the start line... Forgot about this: Another problem I see at my club is the lack of mentorship for novices... They lack knowledge on how to train, how to pace themselves, how to tackle your first marathon, the whole mental game at Comrades, how to eat etc.
