Drink Different – Why the Comrades Marathon Is a Sprint Compared to Owning a Wine Business
| Why the Comrades Marathon Is a Sprint Compared to Owning a Wine Business In 1986, I ran the Comrades Marathon. Roughly 90 kilometres. Just under 9 hours. At the time, I thought it was one of the hardest things a human could voluntarily do. And it is. Comrades is brutal. It’s iconic. It’s one of the most respected ultramarathons in the world. It demands discipline, structure, sacrifice and months of dedicated preparation. You don’t “wing” Comrades. You earn it. But here’s the thing. Looking back now, after decades of building and running a wine business, I’ve realised something uncomfortable: Comrades is a sprint. Owning and running a wine business is the real ultra. Comrades Is Brutal, But It Has a Finish Line The beauty of Comrades is that it’s defined. There is: A clear start line A clear route Aid stations along the way Cut-off times And a finish line waiting for you You know exactly what success looks like. If you train properly, pace yourself correctly, and respect the distance, you give yourself a fighting chance. The pain is predictable. At 30km, you feel it. At 60km, you question yourself. At 80km, you survive. But you know the finish is coming. And when you cross that line, you stop. The clock stops. The suffering stops. You get your medal. It’s over. A Wine Business Has No Finish Line Owning a wine business is different. There is no final kilometre marker. There is no medal ceremony. There is no “you’ve completed it.” You don’t build a winery and then arrive. You build it, and then you defend it. You refine it. You finance it. You restructure it. You survive it. Vintage after vintage. In Comrades, kilometre 90 is the end. In wine, kilometre 90 is harvest. Effort Does Not Equal Outcome One of the biggest differences between endurance sport and entrepreneurship is this: In Comrades, effort correlates fairly strongly with outcome. If you train well, eat properly, respect the distance and execute your pacing strategy, you will most likely finish. In wine? You can: Make the best wine of your life Design world-class labels Create unforgettable tasting experiences Build smart systems Analyse your numbers daily And still: Tourism drops The currency moves against you A distributor delays payment A container gets stuck The market softens A fire disrupts the region In Comrades, the road doesn’t suddenly reroute itself at 70km. In business, the road redraws itself while you’re running. Physical Pain vs Psychological Endurance Comrades, test your body. A wine business tests your psychology. The physical pain of a 90km race is intense but temporary. It is measurable. You can prepare for it. You can train through it. The psychological load of running a wine business is different. It’s cash flow pressure. It’s making payroll when the month has been slow. It’s committing to production months before revenue lands. It’s betting on a vintage before the market tells you whether it wants it. It’s launching something you believe in, not knowing if it will land. It’s not nine hours. It’s years. And unlike an ultramarathon, there is no taper week. There Is No Off-Season Comrades happens once a year. You train. You peak. You recover. A wine business doesn’t give you that luxury. There is always: Harvest Bottling Selling Exporting Marketing Collecting receivables Planning the next vintage Even when you have a great month, you start the next one at zero. There’s no “carry-over applause.” Success is rented. And the rent is due every month. The Illusion of Control In endurance running, you control a lot. Your training plan. Your pacing. Your nutrition. Your mental strategy. In wine, control is an illusion. You don’t control: The weather The global economy Consumer sentiment Trade partners Exchange rates You can only control: Your discipline Your cost structure Your brand clarity Your execution That’s it. The rest is adaptation. And adaptation is exhausting over decades. Why Comrades Is the Sprint When I look back at 1986, I’m proud of that 9-hour Comrades. It took courage. It took discipline. It took resilience. But it had a defined end. Owning and running a wine business is different. It’s: Capital intensive Emotionally volatile Strategically demanding Cyclical Uncertain Long-term It doesn’t reward you once. It tests you repeatedly. Comrades is 90 kilometres. Building a wine business for 30 years. That makes Comrades the sprint. And Yet I’d Do Both Again Here’s the twist. Both require the same core ingredients: Discipline Long-term thinking Respect for pacing Emotional control Resilience when things hurt Running Comrades taught me something that business later reinforced: You don’t win at endurance by being dramatic. You win by being consistent. You don’t panic at 60km. You don’t overspend in good months. You don’t quit at 80km. You don’t abandon strategy after one bad quarter. You keep moving. Deliberately. Calmly. Forward. I thought 90 kilometres in nine hours was the hardest thing I’d ever done. Turns out, it was preparation. Because building something that lasts, vintage after vintage, is the real ultra. No medal. No finish line. No applause. Just resilience. And another start line tomorrow morning. Cheers Kevin |