Camille Herron fell in love with South Africa’s 90-kilometer Comrades Marathon as a child in Oklahoma. It became her number one goal to win this race: the oldest, largest ultra-distance running race in the world. Leading into the 2017 Comrades, Camille suffered a devastating knee injury ten weeks before the race. But her husband literally had a dream that she would win the race. And Camille was driven by a deep passion to fulfill her ultimate racing dream—of claiming that victory.Hear how it all went down: up to the very last moment, Camille’s quest for first remained uncertain.
Camille’s journey includes finding ultra racing after years of being an elite marathon runner. Back to Comrades, in addition to winning it being her dream, this was also literally a dream her husband, Conor, had before Camille lined up for the race in 2017. Going into that event, however, Camille was coming off a painful knee injury suffered only ten weeks beforehand.
Camille is one of the world’s top ultra-distance racers with a particular talent for events on the road. She has won several world and national ultra-distance titles and has set world and national records. Camille also holds the Guinness Book of World Records title for fastest marathon in a superhero costume: she was dressed as Spiderwoman.
Also in this episode, you learn about the finish line traditions and the medals runners earn at Comrades, a language of accomplishments all its own. This episode is part of our first season, and the theme of this season is experiences in and around the Comrades Marathon, a 90-km, or roughly 56-mile, road race that takes place each year in South Africa. It is the oldest and largest ultra-distance foot race in the world.
This episode’s recommended resource is the Keeping Track podcast. It’s cohosted by former and current professional runners Alysia Montaño, Roisin McGettigan, and Molly Huddle, and the trio discuss issues around women in sport with other notable female athletes or experts in the field. Their conversations are personal and powerful, and they get into tough issues that deserve more attention like racial and gender discrimination and inequality and drug use, that is, cheating. All of the episodes are really good listens, and in particular the interview with two-time Olympic medalist Dawn Harper Nelson is particularly memorable.
Ways to Keep Up with Camille Herron
Camille Herron’s website: http://www.camilleherron.com
Camille on Twitter: @runcamille
Camille on Instagram: @runcamille
Book mentioned in this episode: Lore of Running by Tim Noakes
Additional audio for this episode comes from SABC Sport 2017 live race coverage, and from an SABC post-race interview.
Ways to Connect and Engage with Women's Running Stories
Instagram: @womensrunningstories
Twitter: @WomenRunStories
Website: womensrunningstories.com
Email host Cherie: clouiseturner@gmail.com
Women's Running Stories is a member of the Evergreen network: https://evergreenpodcasts.com/
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