South Africa's George Kusche timed his late surge to perfection, destroying the long-standing Up Run record to claim his maiden Comrades Marathon title. Photo: Backpagepix
George Kusche admits lessons from last year’s Comrades Marathon Down Run served him well in his debut Up Run victory on Sunday, finishing in a record-breaking time of 5:15:56.
Dutchman Piet Wiersma, the defending Up Run champion, finished second in a time of 5:19:36, while Mbuti Mollo rounded off the podium in 5:21:31.
“The Comrades is a nerve-racking experience. This past week, it was very hard to think about anything except the Comrades. So I'm very grateful that everything worked out as planned,” Kusche said at the post-race press conference.
“The Comrades is a very tough race, so you can never take it for granted. I took a bit of a gamble by going out early, but luckily it paid off this time.”
