Comrades 2015 Race Gear...

By Frank

20 days till my fourth Comrades Marathon. And yes, it's tapering month which so far despite a little frustrating is going pretty smoothly. And after wrapping up the testing of this year's race gear, here by tradition again unveiling it.

The Saucony Kinvara since I started wearing them beginning from the 3rd edition has changed the way I run (it also changed the way I looked at Saucony as I wasn't a fan of them 4 years ago). An awesome shoe that moves the way the feet does and at the same time providing enough protection, it has protected and improved my performance and timing since my second Comrades Marathon in year 2013. The fourth had came a long way with me too though it skipped the Comrades Marathon as I was introduced to the fifth in time. It was the introduction of the Kinvara 5, the game changer that met and surpasses all my expectations and had given me a fantastic running season since I first received it last April till today.

The army of Kinvara 6.

And thus for this year, the Kinvara which had been code-named "Fast" will once again take on the duty of driving my 4th Comrades. The sixth generation of it, the Kinvara 6 thanks to Saucony Malaysia was first received in mid April 2015 and as usual I had been testing it indoor before moving on to the roads. And I am glad that the DNA of the shoe stood very closely with the fifth with only some adjustments to the FlexFilm making the shoe slightly more natural and flexible. I have faith in the shoe and I am sure it will deliver on race day. And coincidentally, I will be racing them in bright ViziOrange colour which is the same as my qualifier shoe the Saucony Type A6 and also 2 of my workhorse for this year's training, the Saucony Ride 7 and Zealot ISO.

From the qualifier, workhouse to race shoe, orange was the colour to the buildup of my 4th Comrades.

As for my socks, for my first time, I will move away from Drymax as I put my faith either on SwiftWick or Balega this year. Judging from the material used, both are pretty similar to Drymax and on the plus point, it has some added compression for SwiftWick and support for Balega to the necessary area such as arch and Achilles.

As for my apparels, moving away from SKINS, this year's duty will be on CompresSport Trail Tank Top and Trail Shorts, a new set I purchased myself. The top will be white this year which I hope will help with the heat as I remember the weather incident from 2 years ago when the heat wave struck. However for my calf sleeve, I am still undecided on the BV Sport Booster Elite or the CompresSport Calf R2 which the latter I felt over rated. Both will travel with me and I will decide on the morning itself I guess.

The super light Rudy Project Rydon will protect my eyes with my Suunto Ambit 3 Sapphire tracking and giving me the info as I tackle the race.

The only piece of gear which failed me  this time was the Mont Bell Zero Line race brief which sadly was not fitting due to my waist line. Therefore, I had to revert back to the trusty Renoma sport boxer trunks which I have trusted over the months.

My gears will be in a pretty neutral colour this year with the exception of the Kinvara 6. But what's important is they perform to my expectations in being functional and comfortable. And many thanks to Saucony Malaysia again for proving me and the team with the Saucony Kinvara 6 as our race shoe. Like the tagline for it, it will be a fast ride. Seek And You Shall Fly!