Comrades preparation

Comrades Down Run: prepare for the work of descending

By Greg Kench · 2 October 2026

Strength preparation for the Comrades Down Run starts with understanding the work of descending, choosing an appropriate lifting starting point and planning that work alongside your running programme.

“Down run” can sound reassuring. Gravity helps you move down the road. Your legs still have to manage the landing and control the movement, step after step.

During descending, muscles including the quadriceps perform substantial work while lengthening under load. This is called eccentric work. An unfamiliar downhill session can leave your legs sore and temporarily less able to produce force. [1]

For a masters runner, the useful question is practical: what preparation can you repeat without disrupting the running you already need to do?

Start with your current exposure

Look at the terrain in your recent training. Have you been running mostly flat routes? Are descents a regular part of the week? Has a change in route been followed by unusual soreness or a difficult next session?

Distance alone does not describe the entire session. A familiar distance on unfamiliar terrain can be a different training demand.

Write down the session, the terrain and what happened afterwards. You do not need a complicated dashboard. A short note such as “new hilly route; stairs uncomfortable next morning; easy run felt awkward” gives your coaches something concrete to review.

Give strength work a realistic starting point

The gym is another place to practise producing and controlling force. A squat pattern, hip hinge and calf raise can form part of that work, selected and loaded for the person doing them.

Your starting exercise should suit your lifting experience, movement, equipment and current running load. A beginner may need a supported or lightly loaded variation before progressing to a barbell. An experienced lifter may need less total work when the running week becomes demanding.

The goal of the first session is to establish a useful baseline. It should tell you what you can control and how the dose fits the days that follow.

Keep terrain decisions connected to your running programme

Strength work and downhill running are different forms of preparation. Your running coach should guide changes to running terrain, volume and pace. Tell them when you introduce lifting; tell your strength coach when running demands change.

Avoid turning the same week into an experiment with new hills, extra distance and unfamiliar gym exercises. Change one element, observe the response and make the next decision with that information.

This week's audit

• List your key running sessions and their actual start times.
• Note your usual terrain and any planned changes.
• Record your strength experience and available equipment.
• Identify the time you can realistically give to lifting.
• Note any symptoms already affecting running or everyday movement.

This is where useful strength coaching begins: with the training week you actually have.

This article provides general educational information, not individual training, medical or rehabilitation advice.