The Power of Simplicity: Alan Robb's 1978 Comrades Win
Key Highlights :
The 1978 Comrades Marathon was a race that Alan Robb will never forget. Glued into one of my old scrapbooks are some faded dog-eared newspaper articles of the 1978 Comrades Marathon, where Alan Robb won in a record-breaking time of 5:29:14, becoming the first runner to break the magical 5:30 barrier. His 14th place finish meant my name appeared in those newspapers that published the first 20 finishers.
The photograph in the scrapbook that always catches my eye is a faded black and white photo of Alan Robb’s head poking out from above a shower door. The caption on the photograph reads: “Race winner Alan Robb enjoys his shower and no one else has finished the race!” This caption perfectly encapsulates the sheer simplicity of Alan’s win.
In this modern era where our sport is often overcomplicated, and every detail requires analysis, it is fascinating to learn how Alan’s approach was to “just get on with it, train hard and race hard.” In early January 1978 Alan Robb started training in earnest. He wore old Tiger Boston shoes with a thin rubber sole, and trained hard until the end of May. He then flew down to Durban on the afternoon before the race, and on race morning he drank a cup of coffee, pulled on his now worn and battered Tiger Bostons and his Gemiston Callies running gear and lined up at the start. His tactics were simple; he ran “helluva hard” until he reached Kingsmead stadium. On the way he drank flat coke and water. After the race he had a few more beers.
It is interesting to contrast Alan Robb’s simplistic, minimalist approach to his racing in the 1970s with the modern highly complicated science racing has become. Every serious runner now has a specialist coach who advises and recommends training schedules, and modern runners rely on a variety of gadgets. They own smart devices and watches, and they race with pacing charts and heart monitors to gauge their pace. They use special gels and energy bars, recovery shakes and protein mixtures to fuel their journeys. The old Tiger Bostons have been replaced by state-of-the-art shoes with air, gels and carbon fibre plates.
It certainly makes one wonder what time Alan might have run had he enjoyed the benefits of our modern support systems, but his 1978 Comrades presents a strong argument for simplicity, not overthinking things and just getting on with it. In the words of Alan Robb himself, “I didn’t need a device to tell me I was stuffed while climbing a hill, Bruce.” Alan’s simple approach to training and racing is a reminder that sometimes the best way to achieve success is to keep things simple and just get on with it.
