Cyclists with a "Running" Problem

[b-rad]

21 hours ago, Zama7 said:

Not familiar with the brand and paying R3k for seems expesnive although cheap compared to copetators. I am looking for Magix Speed 3 on sale somwehere but might give this a go if I have no luck

Quite different shoes the Diadora Gara and Magic Speed. The Diadora Gara is basically in the same category as a Nike Vaporfly or Alphalfy Next %, or Adidas Adizero Adios Pro, or Saucony Endorphin Pro, or ASICS Metaspeed. Super shoe category. Shoes not worth wearing for random runs or just casual runs to be honest. There is no point running day to day runs and especially slower runs in such a shoe. I shed a little tear seeing people jogging in a super shoe. 
Only reason I mentioned the Diadora is because at R2999 vs R5999 it’s quite a discount. In Euro terms it’s about €155 vs a price of €310. In Europe the Gara are about €290. So at €155 that’s not too bad a price (scary thought because actually shoes are rather epensive 😫). 
At €290 though the shoe is premium and the other brands are going to be a more popular choice for similar pricing.

The ASICS Magic speed 3 is a good shoe for tempo runs, workouts and shorter races. I wouldn’t really use it for a very long run or even a long race myself but I know some who have. The Magic Speed 4 is more cushioned and probably more suited to a long run. 
the Magic Speed 3 is a great shoe (I have a pair). Very versatile and probably more useful than a carbon shoe that one only uses a couple times.  It’s just not in the same category as the out and out ‘racing’ shoes mentioned above though. 

Edited February 7, 2025 by b-rad

[Zama7]

1 minute ago, b-rad said:

Quite different shoes the Diadora Gara and Magic Speed. The Diadora Gara is basically in the same category as a Nike Vaporfly or Alphalfy Next %, or Adidas Adizero Adios Pro, or Saucony Endorphin Pro, or ASICS Metaspeed. Super shoe category. Shoes not worth wearing for random runs or just casual runs to be honest. There is no point running day to day runs and especially slower runs in such a shoe. I shed a little tear seeing people jogging in a super shoe. 
Only reason I mentioned the Diadora is because at R2999 vs R5999 it’s quite a discount. In Euro terms it’s about €155 vs a price of €310. In Europe the Gara are about €290. So at €155 that’s not too bad a price (scary thought because actually shoes are rather epensive 😫). 
At €290 though the shoe is premium and the other brands are going to be a more popular choice for similar pricing.

The ASICS Magic speed 3 is a good shoe for tempo runs, workouts and shorter races. I wouldn’t really use it for a very long run or even a long race myself but I know some who have. The Magic Speed 4 is more cushioned and probably more suited to a long run. 
the Magic Speed 3 is a great shoe (I have a pair). Very versatile and probably more useful than a carbon shoe that one only uses a couple times.  It’s just not in the same category as the out and out ‘racing’ shoes mentioned above though. 

 

Guess the price is great but I want to try on a shoe before droping a few grand without any idea of how it fits.

 

I have a pair of NovaBlast 5's and Gel Nimbus 26 I use for base and long runs but looking for a tempo / 5-21km race shoe. Really want the superblast but man its expensive. 

[Stretch]

On 2/6/2025 at 9:37 AM, b-rad said:

Has anyone tried the Diadora Gara carbon race shoe? New into the carbon race shoe scene but seems they nailed it. Some really solid reviews. Was in a running store recently in Italy. The owner quietly told me he thinks it’s a brilliant shoe. Better than the other carbon racers out there (and he was stocking all the big brands). Maybe some Italian bias going on there though 😅

Shoe is on a solid special on the Diadora SA site at the moment.

i would say some Italian bias! I reckon they are all much of a muchness nowadays. Some are more aggressive than others. I use Saucony pro's because they are not as aggressive but still give you the carbon benefit-. Cost wise, you going to get at least 2 years out of a pair of carbons (depending on how many races you do) so i would rather buy in line with my daily runner brand

[McD23]

20 minutes ago, Stretch said:

i would say some Italian bias! I reckon they are all much of a muchness nowadays. Some are more aggressive than others. I use Saucony pro's because they are not as aggressive but still give you the carbon benefit-. Cost wise, you going to get at least 2 years out of a pair of carbons (depending on how many races you do) so i would rather buy in line with my daily runner brand

2 years would be very dependent on how often used. I just got the nike zoom fly 5, a carbon plated trainer/racer shoe. Noticeably more rubber on the outsole than all other carbon plated shoes. I've broken every single PB abibe 1km of mine in them recently. For me they have been a revelation. And I'm a shoe whore with a bad affliction for trying multiple brands concurrently 🤐 so have tried it against many equivalent models. 

[milky4130]

478km on my Endorphin pro 3's less than 2 years, I did all my races in them, from 5km to Comrades. But must say disappointed with the sole wearing thin already. Then again I shouldn't be surprised as I did lots of walking in them in the last 20kms of Comrades Up run.

[Stretch]

2 minutes ago, milky4130 said:

478km on my Endorphin pro 3's less than 2 years, I did all my races in them, from 5km to Comrades. But must say disappointed with the sole wearing thin already. Then again I shouldn't be surprised as I did lots of walking in them in the last 20kms of Comrades Up run.

i have done 150 miles in mine in a year, so i am kind of hoping they will be fine for the rest of the year. Might get a new pair for my October marathon though. I am pretty light on my soles though.

[jdwet1980]

Hi Guys, is this site legitimate? 

https://durbanrunner.co.za/collections/hoka

[McD23]

Balwin Peninsula...FMG that is not a nice Marathon when the wind bully's you for 41 of the 42km 😆

[milky4130]

We accidentally ran positive splits and it worked out in our favor. Not sure going out slower would’ve helped our cause in this game force winds. Aim was for 3:15 and we nailed it at 3:13 eventually.

[ScottCM]

On 2/14/2025 at 3:51 PM, jdwet1980 said:

Hi Guys, is this site legitimate? 

https://durbanrunner.co.za/collections/hoka

I have shopped in the store myself many times. Never bought online though.

[Vallende Vaandel]

On 2/14/2025 at 5:51 PM, jdwet1980 said:

Hi Guys, is this site legitimate? 

https://durbanrunner.co.za/collections/hoka

Bought online from them end of Jan this year - shipping was within a week. I was skeptical about the site since the shoes I purchased was at an unbelievable price but all checked out!

[b-rad]

Any thoughts on the recent Comrades announcement?

[SwissVan]

46 minutes ago, b-rad said:

Any thoughts on the recent Comrades announcement?

First thing that came to mind was how will this work for the various cut off times and most importantly the finish cut off?
 

For us long term comrades spectators it could result in a somewhat confusing and lack luster cut off / finish

IMHO they should not mess with the current formula, I.e. don’t fork with something that works

[shaper]

6 hours ago, b-rad said:

Any thoughts on the recent Comrades announcement?

Some further comment/feedback/insight (maybe) https://runningmann.co.za/2025/03/07/staggered-starts-comrades-introduces-the-two-pot-system/

[b-rad]

On 3/8/2025 at 7:57 AM, SwissVan said:

First thing that came to mind was how will this work for the various cut off times and most importantly the finish cut off?
 

For us long term comrades spectators it could result in a somewhat confusing and lack luster cut off / finish

IMHO they should not mess with the current formula, I.e. don’t fork with something that works

Agreed. It could become rather confusing. And confusion means viewers lose interest.

I agree. Keep it as it was. The race is unique in the mass start and gun to mat timing and the traditions and different medals. By trying to change it there is the possibility it just becomes another big run, almost like the big marathons with multiple starts going on. And to be quite honest those lack in atmosphere and vibe a big way compared to Comrades.

The new start process will still see loads of people trying to jump batches (in this case from wave 2 to 1). Because as much as Comrades brag about a reduced time to cross the start line from about 8min for previous start process to the expected time of 5min people will still try jump across. As a side note South Africans are perhaps some of the more selfish and ill disciplined bunch when it comes to start line discipline I have seen.
The time taken to cross the start line could very very easily be reduced to nothing if less time is spent dilly-dallying at water tables and chatting to mates along the route anyway. 

It will be very very tricky to separate finishers into the different wave finishes particularly if there is a big bus of both wave 1 and 2 finishers. As much as some marshals will understand the importance of this, many marshals are quite frankly clueless and have no idea. Then a big question and area I see will see big confusion is the cutoffs. Who will sneak through and who will be stopped for no valid reason? Wave 1 runner possibly only starting in wave 2 but being pulled off at a cutoff incorrectly. 

The numbers they are hoping to achieve for the 100th are quite unrealistic I feel. Sure they might get high numbers of entries (revenue goals maybe?) but nowhere close to that will actually line up. And if the entire start process and potentially traditions are being adjusted just for that event I feel like Comrades are moving in the wrong direction.

Is more revenue through more entries the goal? If so, I think that’s shortsighted thinking. One could quite easily achieve significantly more sponsorship money by growing the international stature and exposure of the event. And at the same time keep the numbers similar to that of the past few years. Better, more available tv coverage, and attract the big names from the around the world. This attracts the sponsors. 
Growth just for the sake of growth (by participant numbers) is not necessarily growth is it.. 

 

[Shebeen]

I don't think you've looked past the headline. A lot of your questions and concerns are answered by the later press release on this issue which is actually labelled a FAQ

https://comrades.com/blog/posts/faq-comrades2025-two-starts

 

2 hours ago, b-rad said:

Agreed. It could become rather confusing. And confusion means viewers lose interest.

I agree. Keep it as it was. The race is unique in the mass start and gun to mat timing and the traditions and different medals. By trying to change it there is the possibility it just becomes another big run, almost like the big marathons with multiple starts going on. And to be quite honest those lack in atmosphere and vibe a big way compared to Comrades.

logistics. the field was already too big to handle from PMB start. It's two seperate waves with all the bells and whistles twice - if you consider a ~10 000+ person mass start as "just another big run" then you have travelled much wider than me.

 

2 hours ago, b-rad said:

The new start process will still see loads of people trying to jump batches (in this case from wave 2 to 1). Because as much as Comrades brag about a reduced time to cross the start line from about 8min for previous start process to the expected time of 5min people will still try jump across. As a side note South Africans are perhaps some of the more selfish and ill disciplined bunch when it comes to start line discipline I have seen.

should be very easy to identify people jumping ahead as the race numbers will be different colours. As this is effectively cheating 15minutes, thinking they will turn a blind eye to this shows you haven't been watching this space much (they are pretty much the only race that names and shames their naughty boys).

 

2 hours ago, b-rad said:

The time taken to cross the start line could very very easily be reduced to nothing if less time is spent dilly-dallying at water tables and chatting to mates along the route anyway. 

this makes zero sense.

 

2 hours ago, b-rad said:

It will be very very tricky to separate finishers into the different wave finishes particularly if there is a big bus of both wave 1 and 2 finishers. As much as some marshals will understand the importance of this, many marshals are quite frankly clueless and have no idea. Then a big question and area I see will see big confusion is the cutoffs. Who will sneak through and who will be stopped for no valid reason? Wave 1 runner possibly only starting in wave 2 but being pulled off at a cutoff incorrectly. 

sure. planned for accordingly. essentially two medal tables.

 

2 hours ago, b-rad said:

The numbers they are hoping to achieve for the 100th are quite unrealistic I feel. Sure they might get high numbers of entries (revenue goals maybe?) but nowhere close to that will actually line up. And if the entire start process and potentially traditions are being adjusted just for that event I feel like Comrades are moving in the wrong direction.

how do you know that. 23 000 sold out. I have spoken to people who are gearing up to return to the race just for it.

 

2 hours ago, b-rad said:

Is more revenue through more entries the goal? If so, I think that’s shortsighted thinking. One could quite easily achieve significantly more sponsorship money by growing the international stature and exposure of the event. And at the same time keep the numbers similar to that of the past few years. Better, more available tv coverage, and attract the big names from the around the world. This attracts the sponsors. 
Growth just for the sake of growth (by participant numbers) is not necessarily growth is it.. 

cool. you can do both.