Philip Gibrall is a pharmacist. Richard Morris is an Amtrak conductor.

Both also are gluttons for punishment.

Gibrall, 58, and Morris, 55, recently put their bodies through the self-inflicted torture test known as the Comrades Ultra Marathon in South Africa's Kwazulu-Natal Province.

The race starts in Durban, before dawn, and finishes in Pietermaritzburg - 55.9 miles and five intimidating, exhausting hills in the distance. By comparison, a normal marathon is 26.2 miles.

"They call it the land of the thousand hills, and they're not lying," said Gibrall, a Benedictine graduate.

The five hills, known as "The Big Five," range in height from 110 to 213 meters in elevation.

"Those are mountains, not hills," Morris said. "It's a relentless uphill climb."

The altitude (total climb of 767 meters) slowed and weakened, but didn't halt the two Richmond Roadrunners, who finished in about 11½ hours.

To be considered an official finisher, you must cover the demanding terrain in less than 12 hours.

GIBRALL: Known as "Baltimore," Gibrall has completed about 60 marathons, "all over the world," with a personal best of 2:59 in Richmond.

Having never run track in school, he took up racing at age 29 and has covered all 30 Richmond Marathons plus five Boston treks.

MORRIS: Like Gibrall, he took up running later in life, mostly to battle an expanding waistline.

"I was in the big boy's club," he said.

Morris has run about 15 marathons, including Richmond five times.

WRONG YEAR? An event that began in 1921 to honor South African soldiers "who never came home" after World War I, Comrades alternates directions.

Durban to Pietermaritzburg is considered the up year. Next year will be the down year.

"We picked the hardest ultra marathon for our first one," Gibrall said. "I guess now we don't have to do the rest."

A total of 11,140 runners competed, with 8,612 finishing. Morris and Gibrall were among 57 Americans.

TRAINING: Anticipating the grinding South African peaks, Morris and Gibrall picked East Broad Street to prep. They ran repeats from 11th and Broad streets to 25th and Broad, from near MCV to St. John's Church.

"I think the best we did was to run the loop eight times," Morris said.

Gibrall said, "It wasn't enough."

GETTING THERE: The men flew from Dulles to Johannesburg - 15 hours going, 17 coming back.

Then there were a couple of puddle jumps to reach Hilton, where they stayed with friends of Morris.

Looking back, "It was worth every penny, and every uncomfortable minute on the jet," Morris said.

Gibrall added, "I certainly wouldn't say we beat the course, but we did survive it."