Barry Holland, centre, with his wife Debbie and son Ross. Picture: Shelley Kjonstad/Independent Newspapers
Durban — It was a disappointing and emotional exit from the Comrades Marathon last Sunday for Barry Holland when he was unable to complete his 50th running of the world’s toughest ultramarathon.
Holland began running the 97th Comrades Marathon, from Durban to Pietermaritzburg, with his wife Debbie, two of his daughters, Kathryn van Dongen and Susan Pyper, his son Ross, son-in-law Owen van Dongen and nephew Brett Goodwin.
The 72-year-old from Ballito quit the race after 40km and “buckets” of tears after struggling with his knee. The rest of his family completed the race.
“It was unfortunate that I could not complete the race. In November last year I underwent a knee operation. I had not trained for eight weeks. There was no conditioning in the leg. The cards were stacked against me. My legs were finished. It was extremely painful on the knee on the downhills. I cried buckets of tears when I knew I could not complete the race. It was very disappointing.
“I will be back next year to fight another day. It will make special Comrades history if Louis Massyn (who completed his 49th race this year) and myself finish our 50th Comrades next year,” said Holland.
Holland first ran the Comrades in 1973 at the age of 20.
Independent on Saturday