The American who is a former world champion over 50km and 100km certainly has had bad luck when it comes to racing the Comrades. Last year she had to withdraw to a torn hamstring. In 2014 Herron fell ill the day before Comrades.  Despite her illness she still tried to compete, but after 83 kilometres her body decided that enough was enough and she had to drop out.

 

This time round she is all set to prove that you cannot keep a good woman down. She certainly is in good form. In February she won the Tarawera 102km-race in New Zealand setting a new course record of 8:56:00.

 

Herron’s CV certainly makes for impressive reading. She was has won 20 marathons, set a Guinness World Record for racing in a superhero costume completing a marathon in 2:48:51. For those who wanted to know, she was dressed as Spiderwoman. Her best time in the marathon is 2:37:14, for 50km it is 3:20:58 and in the 100km it is 7:08:35.

 

Tim Noakes indirectly was the one who inspired Herron to dream about running the Comrades.

 

“I have been reading his book – Lore of Running – in Junior High School. It made me realize that Comrades is the pinnacle of ultras. I've already got two World titles so to win Comrades would be huge to my career.

 

“I loved the energy, people, history of the race, and have wanted to come back and see my talent through to the finish. You can really sense and appreciate what this race means to South Africans. I'm grateful for the support from the Nedbank Running Club and will give it my all.”

 

According to Herron she grew up very athletic, primarily playing basketball and dance.

 

“Our basketball team had to do track during the off-season, and from the first day I could run and run and not get tired. Through these training sessions is how I actually fell in love with running.

 

“I started running back-to-back marathons in 2010-2011 with short recovery time. People started telling me I should give ultras a try. When I ran my first 100km in 2015 I joke that it was like Billy Elliot doing ballet for the first time. It felt like I was born to do it.

 

“When I run I feel like I'm fulfilling one of my purposes in life. That's what puts me at peace and gets me excited to get out the door every day, twice a day, and then run like bloody hell on race day. I've always loved being outside and enjoying nature. I love setting goals and achieving them through hard work. I love traveling, meeting people, and appreciating the highs and lows of the journey.”