By all accounts, Albe Geldenhuys' maiden Comrades Marathon performance was the perfect debut. Having studied the split times of the top contenders prior to the 1996 edition, Albe reckoned that a sub-5hr55 performance would virtually guarantee a top ten finish. Be it the “up” or “down” versions of the famous slog in KwaZulu-Natal, five minutes under six hours would underline the Pretoria athlete's arrival as an elite ultra-marathon contender and earn him a coveted gold medal. And he did just that. Well, almost.
'My first Comrades went really well,' he says. 'My preparation was spot on, as did the race. I had won the Long Tom Marathon earlier that year and was confident of my chances. In the end, I finished in a great 5:54. But 1996 was the first year that the Russian athletes took the race by storm and so I only finished 21st.
By then over 30 years of age, Albe was entering his prime as an ultra endurance athlete. He would eventually earn not one but two gold medals at The Ultimate Human Race, along with a multitude of top-15 places. His journey to Comrades glory, though, was not exactly conventional. But then Albe Geldenhuys is not your typical athlete.
