Carla Molinaro may just be the dark horse at the Comrades Marathon
There’s unlikely to be objections to Carla Molinaro being installed as a contender for Comrades Marathon glory this weekend. After all, she was on the podium last year finishing third behind runaway winner Gerda Steyn and Adele Broodryk.
Add to that her third place at the Two Oceans Marathon in April and you will understand just why the Hollywood Bets Athletic Club runner will be among the favourites for Sunday’s race.
The discerning Comrades follower will have some reservations though, pointing to the fact Molinaro ’s Up-Run record is nothing to shout about. And the athlete will totally understand.
“I’ve actually never had a good up run for different reasons,” she says of her two races from Durban to Pietermaritzburg “I had a Stress fracture in 2019 and the longest run I’d done before the race was 15km and I thought let me see if I can do it off no running.”
All about to change
She did it, albeit in a ‘slow’ 7:51:10. Prior to that, her other Up-Run was her back-to-back in 2017 which she completed in 7:55:05.
All that is about to change as Molinaro intends to upgrade her Bill Rowan medals to gold.
“I’m hoping this year’s one (Up Run) will be different. I am ready and really looking forward to the race. I feel as prepared as I’ve ever felt. I feel good – the training went almost perfectly. There’s nothing I would have changed and nothing more I feel I could have done.”
Besides the spot-on preparations, Molinaro has had it pretty good in the previous year – so good she was crowned world 50km champion last year.
“The last year of racing has upped my confidence. It made me believe I could race with the girls at the front. Yes, there’ll be a lot more climbing but to be honest, I am actually really looking forward to this one. I now live in Cape Town, and I run hills all the time. I’ve gotten good at climbing them. So fingers crossed that it all comes together on race day and I can have a good run.”
Indications are she will, especially if her performance at Two Oceans where she finished behind Steyn and Irvette van Zyl is anything to go by. Talented and hard-working as she is, Molinaro says being in a great environment also contributes to good performance on race day.
“Hollywood has been way better than I thought it would be. I was looking for a club to join and I spoke to them and from the minute when I walked into the hotel room all the other girls jumped up and hugged me. They were excited and it was nice, they embraced me and that contributes to one running happy.”
That, however, will not be the only reason you see her smiling as she trudges up to Maritzburg. Molinaro loves Comrades.
5 Days to go until #Comrades2024#NoDoubt #Nakanjani pic.twitter.com/qlUugxWVAH
— ComradesRace (@ComradesRace) June 3, 2024
‘Running beside you’
“At the other big races around the world, the spectators are separated from you by a barrier. At Comrades people are running beside you. Others bring out their garden chairs and sit by the road and cheer. We are all in it together. For me that’s really special. There is no race like that were everything overlaps and everyone is a part of it.”
How does she intend to get the Up-Run gold then?
“All of us, everyone, wants to win the race. But there’s always a race favourite and Gerda has proven time and time again that she’s the queen. But I am going into it, and I want to race. I am not going to look at my watch. I am going to run how I feel. I will respond to the race, not the pace,” she says “But I would like to get as close to the course record as possible. That would be cool. I’ve been training those paces, and they are not mental. I want to race.”
And there can be no denying she can race. She has proven it in numerous races, except for the Up-Run. It all changes on Sunday then.