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Hello,
my name is Nikki
Campbell. Welcome
to
“Comrades,
the ALSORAN way” running
web
site! I am very glad you have found my site and I
hope that you will find it helpful!
This site is
about my personal journey to a Comrades
Green Number.
It is
written in simple “runners speak” and is an informative
testimony to 20
successive and successful years at Comrades Marathon.
This is a work
in progress and I am posting new pages on a daily basis. I
have barely
scratched the surface. While you may not agree with my
perceptions and
techniques, I have proven them to work, time and time again. My
Comrades record attests to it.
Why
“the ALSORAN
way”? Well, if you have ever met me or seen a
picture of me
you will realise that I am NO athlete! Unfortunately for me I
have no inherited genetic talent, you will realise that God had a sense
of humour when he designed me. What I am trying to achieve
with this website is for you to realise that there is a place for the ALSORAN
runner. If I can do
it, so can you!
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Nikki Campbell Double laurel - June 2017
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Where does the term ALSORAN
come from? Well to my knowledge it is a horse racing
term.
Where races are reported in the press the first four horses are
mentioned by position followed by the word ALSORAN
after which the rest of the
horses in the field are named. What I am trying to say is
that I
have never been in the prizes, and that I have always been one of the
other participants (or alsoran’s) in the run.
Actually,
this is not entirely true, I have won prizes anyhow but that is another
story that I will tell later on in the website!
This site is specifically about training for and running
the Comrades
Marathon. Now that
you know you don’t have to be specifically athletic (because
I’m not) I hope that you will think about and consider
training
for and running
the Comrades
Marathon!
Let
me just say
that I am passionate about the Comrades
Marathon. I ran my
first Comrades in 1998 and
haven’t looked back since. In 2007 I completed my
10th run
and earned my permanent
number
(also referred to as a green number). The number
18595 is
mine in
perpetuity! Receiving my permanent
number was one of the
proudest moments of my life. I have thirteen bronze medals
and eight
copper medals
(Vic
Clapham). I am also one of the very few that
have run negative splits on this run
(I’ve
managed this
feat five
times!)
You will discover as you read through my site that I subscribe to the
teachings/advice of two specialist Comrades runners namely, the late Dr
Lindsay
Weight and
the legendary Don Oliver,
both
of whom I count in my special circle of friends. Both Don and
Lindsay are/were passionate about the Comrades
Marathon. Don, a
veteran Comrades runner with 19 medals
to his name, equally famous
for being the Comrades
coach
and getting thousands of novices through Comrades by virtue of his
Rocky Road Runners Comrades programme and Lindsay, my dear friend, a
physiologist, sports writer and winner of the ladies races in 1983 and
1984, with a number of top 10 finishes, eventually running
a total of
11 Comrades before her untimely death in 2006!
Following the ALSORAN
theme,
my belief in running
and
finishing Comrades came from watching Fish
Hoek Athletic Club
member Margaret Harrison, a fellow ALSORAN
runner who pursued a dream
to run the Comrades, in the process kicking some serious butt on race
day. She made it believable for me! There is hope
for the ALSORAN
runner!
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