I have a picture of Bruce Frordyce finishing Comrades in I think 3rd position, and in the shot you can see me, aged 12, leaning over a fence, taking pictures of runners.  I always loved photography - and then, much more, Comrades Marathon.  It now takes place on 16 June and sometimes I don't even get up to watch the start.  When I was 15 we moved to Hillcrest and every week after I finished the 4km time trial I used to watch a young athlete blaze home in the 8km.  A number of years later he came 1st in the New York Marathon.  I have always dreamed he will win Comrades, and at 42, Willie Mtolo, takes one more shot at it this year.

I ran the race 3 times and I haven't run again since 1994.  It was important to run then, I took part in the Soweto Peace Marathon in late 1993 in my Wits University running gear, and I wanted to run Comrades again.  Its not that I haven't trained enough - I never did.  Comrades is within the reach of most people physically - witness all the various body shapes that finish it - but many of them can't do it mentally.  Comrades is about mental strength, a determination to finish and I will always have time for someone that has got to the end - or at least respect - because I know what pain they went through to get to the end and somebody who can finish Comrades can do most things.  Its a special race, and its really uniquely South African - yet another special feature of this fantastic country of ours.