Flashes of Panic

I was pleased to see this article in the South African press announcing that Leonid Shvetsov, a Russian doctor resident in the US, set a new record for the “down” run of the Comrades Marathon. The previous record was 21 years old. (The Comrades Marathon, actually 89.3k and therefore somewhat more than twice the length of a standard marathon, is a point-to-point race between Durban and Pietermaritzburg, and alternates direction. Since Pietermartizburg is higher than Durban, years the race starts in Durban are “up” races; from Pietermaritzburg, like this year, “down” races.)

I met Shvetsov nearly ten years ago, at the 1997 Chicago Marathon. In 1997, the marathon world record was 2:06:50 and very few active marathoners had ever run under 2:08. Leonid was one of the rabbits, and because Chicago’s course winds in and out of downtown he was able to turn up in the press room (almost always the best place to watch a big-city marathon) shortly after leaving the course. Khalid Khannouchi, running his debut marathon, went on to finish in an eye-opening 2:07:10, and throughout the closing miles Leonid was sitting next to me (one of the available empty seats), reading off the splits stored in his watch and commenting on the race. I commented on his choice of sponsor—he was an Asics athlete, so Leo the Lion was running for Tiger. I found him the friendliest and most approachable marathoner I’d ever met, doubly so considering he was working in his second language.

We had some sporadic email contacts while I was working for RW, and I noted his shift from marathons to ultras when he scored a second at Comrades six years ago, but he dropped out of my sight for a while. Now it looks like everything finally came together for him on the right day; it’s no small feat to break a Bruce Fordyce record.

Now Playing: Born Of Frustration from Getting Away With It…Live by James

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