Roshni, the Gorkha girl at Comrades in South Africa

KalimNews, 3 June 2012, 1.30 pm: Roshni Rai the marathon queen of the hills also known as Pedong Express is one of the marathon runner in the Comrades Marathon that started today at about 9 am IST. Roshni had run about 36 km at 1.30 pm crossing Camperdown near the half way run. A record of 19,000 runners including about 50 runners of India have been running the 12 hr race from Pietermaritzburg to Durban. The Comrades, is arguably the greatest ultra marathon in the world where athletes come from all over the world to combine muscle and sinew and mental strength to conquer the approximately 90km between the cities of Pietermaritzburg and Durban, in South Africa. Roshni Rai in her thirties is a national marathon runner and also had run in the hills with other national runners inspired by her. She is a legal executive working in Colgate Palmolive in Mumbai and hails from Pedong of Kalimpong in the district of Darjeeling.

 She planned to highlight the “identity crisis” of her community by using the Comrades Marathon as a platform. “I’m running to highlight the identity crisis of Gorkhas in India,” Rai said to livemint.com. “The Comrades has an inspiring history. When I run there, it will be a tribute to all the Gorkhas who have died for India”, she added. The event owes its beginnings to the vision of one man, World War I veteran Vic Clapham. The first Comrades Marathon took place on May 24, 1921, Empire Day starting outside the City Hall in Pietermaritzburg with 34 runners.The race is a cherished national treasure and attracts scores of runners, spectators and television viewers each year.

 For both the up and the down run it is important to note the dramatic physical variations in the Drummond to Durban stretch. In the down run this is the second half of the race. The first half can be deceptive and many runners will wonder if this is indeed a down run. The Pietermaritzburg to Drummond section does not have nearly the physical variation as the second half. Both Pietermaritzburg and Drummond lie roughly at the same height above sea level and the highest point of the course, Umlaas Road, is a mere 170 m above Pietermaritzburg. Four time Comrades gold medalist and two time winner Leonid Shvetsov are sunning in the colours of Nedbank Running Club. Shvetsov, with four gold and one silver medal to his name, running his sixth Comrades Marathon. He currently holds the Comrades record after breaking it in 2007 in a time of 5:20:48. Shvetsov is also the up run record holder in a time of 05:24:49, achieved in 2008.