Vacations For Africa

Next month, the brutal Comrades Marathon 2009 will be underway in South Africa on the 24^th of May. For keen runners planning South Africa vacations, bring your blood, sweat and tears with you. You’re gonna need them. Here’s a chilling press release of the renowned road race:

Fifty-five famously fierce miles. Five punishing climbs. The merciless clock. Blisters, sweat and tears. The Comrades Marathon may be the world's greatest race, but it's not for sissies.

The world's oldest and largest marathon happens to take place in KwaZulu-Natal. The famous 55 mile ultra-marathon alternates between an 'up' run or a 'down' run every year. The race is run over an extremely tough course that can be best described as "The Big Five". The Big Five are uphills on the route of the Comrades Marathon and, on the up run they appear in the following order: Cowies Hill, Field's Hill, Botha's Hill, Inchanga, and finally, Polly Shortts. On the down run there are another set of equally challenging hills, and many runners are surprised that a race described as down still has some exceptionally tough hills to climb, including Inchanga, Alverstone, Bothas Hill and Cowies Hill. The 2009 marathon will be a 'down' run so it will start in Pietermaritzburg and come to a blissful end in Durban.