On 30 May I ran my second Comrades Marathon in a personal best time of 10:54:11 to collect my second Bronze Medal and a "Double Down" Medal , writes Richard Thomas. This was the 85th running of the race first held in 1921 between Pietermaritzburg and Durban in Kwazulu Natal, South Africa in honour of the fallen in WWI. Normally the race is run "down" one year and "up" the next but to commemorate the occasion this year's race was staged as a "down" run, as was last year's - the first time "down" runs have been held in consecutive years (hence the "double down" medal). In fact, despite its name, the "down" run involves 1,400m of climbing and 2,000m of descent and, as most of the descent comes in the last 20kms, when your quads are beginning to feel like jelly and your knees are screaming at the constant jarring, many Comrades veterans reckon it's the tougher of the runs.

Gold medals are awarded to the first 10 men and women; the "Wally Hayward" medal to finishers under 6 hours; silver medals to those between 6 and 71/2 hours; the "Bill Rowan" medal to those between 71/2 and 9 hours; bronze medals to those between 9 and 11 hours and "Vic Chapman" medals to those between 11 and 12 hours.

The largest field ever (23,568) started the race in the darkness at 05.30am in front of the colonial red-brick Town Hall building in PMB to run the 56 miles (90km) to the Finish at the Kingsmead Stadium in Durban. Around 20,000 completed the race on a hot and sultry day and I finished 8,733rd. Last year's men's winner Stephen Muzhingi, from Zimbabwe, won again in 5:29:00. The ladies' winner was Elena Nurgalieva, from Russia, in 6:13:03, consolidating her and her twin sister, Olesya's, dominance over the race, with either one or the other having won 7 out of the last 8 Comrades.

This year you had to pace the race more carefully due to the larger field. My strategy was to stay ahead of the sub-11 hour pacing group and, for most of the race, I achieved this. I completed the first marathon in 4:55 and felt good, despite the heat (around 28 degrees at noon) and the climbs and descents as you pass through the "Valley of a Thousand Hills". The fine weather brought out the supporters with their flags, "braai's" and "vuvuzelas", making the sights, sounds and smells as the runners passed through towns like Hillcrest, Kloof and Pinetown absolutely fantastic. Just before the long downhill at Fields Hill (around 70km) I allowed myself a short break to stretch out my aching muscles, only to watch the pacing group going past. I caught up with them on the hill and then with 3km to go I overtook them to ensure my PB.

There were some emotional moments during the race, not least passing the Ethembeni School for physically handicapped children at Inchanga. I visited the school a couple of days before the race to deliver over 100 caps generously donated by friends and colleagues. As ever on race day the children lined the route outside their school and cheered on the runners. At just before Half Way this is a spiritually uplifting moment and few runners pass by without shedding a tear. Emotions get the better of you again at the final cut off as you watch the agonies of the runners who don't quite make it before the race director fires his gun and closes the Finish Line on the dot of 12 hours.

This was, once again, a memorable and satisfying challenge of fitness, stamina and willpower. As one Comrades veteran told me: "You haven't really conquered the Comrades 'till you've completed an "up" run", so I'll be back next year for the Durban to PMB race.