The First Comrades Marathon in 1921
South Africa held its first Comrades Marathon in 1921. It was run by Vic Clapham, ex World War One veteran and other 34 runners, who initiated it as a reunion. Clapham wanted to remember those who had fallen in the war by ultimate testing of body and mind, and triumphing. Sixteen runners completed the 87, 9km (55 mile) race from Pietermaritzburg to Durban.
Bill Rowan won the 1921 Race and finished in a time of 8:59:00 and his name is now given to the sub 9 hr medal in today’s race. This is according to Sian Theron from Comrades Marathon Association.
The first medal awarded in 1921 was a Silver Medal which was awarded to all finishers of the event up until 1931. A special bronze medal was awarded as an exception to Lew Pearson who completed the distance in a time of 12 hours 20 minutes in 1921.
Held annually the date shifted from Republic Day to Youth Day but after complaints were received that the race detracted from Youth Day celebrations the date for future races was changed in 2006 to a Sunday nearest to the middle of June.
The Comrades Marathon is the most popular road race in South Africa and the biggest ultra-marathon in the world.
Frances Hayward was a pioneer ultrarunner, the first woman to run the Comrades Marathon (54 miles) in 1923 at the age 30. She was originally born in England but later emigrated to South Africa. She became an accomplished distance swimmer, swimming up to 10 miles in one stretch in the African rivers. For Comrades, she trained for three months, only in the evenings, because she worked full-time as a typist. Women could not officially enter, but she was allowed to run and finished in 11:35, beating many men.
Five years later, she visited America and news reporters were fascinated with the woman ultrarunner and her Comrades finish. She said, “I did not find it so very difficult to cover the distance over rough roads and through a hilly country. I was weary when I finished but the big crowd on the sports grounds were surprised that I did not collapse as nearly everyone thought I would. I did not feel any the worse the next day and visited a theatre in the evening.”
(From Ultrarunning History Podcast)
Quick facts:
- So,the first Comrades Marathon took place in 1921. 48 entered, 34 started and only 16 manage to complete the race
- Initially the time limit for the Comrades Marathon was 12 hours; it was then reduced to 11 hours in 1928. On the 75th anniversary of the race in 2000 an hour was added, returning the cut off to 12 hours with a special Vic Clapham medal given to those who finished in the last hour.
- The Comrades Marathon was initially run on the 31 May (what was Republic day). In 1995 it was changed to June 16 to coincide with the Soweto uprisings.
- The first woman to run Comrades was Frances Hayward in 1923. She ran unofficially as her entry was refused. She finished in 11:35 and did not receive a medal. She got a silver tea service and a rose bowl from fellow runners and spectators instead.
- The average age of a female Comrades runner is 40.
- The average age of a male Comrades runner is 42.
- The youngest person to win the Comrades Marathon was Phil Masterson Smith in 1931. He was 19. As the age limit is now 20 years, that record might never be broken...
- Vladamir Kotov is the oldest runner to win the Comrades marathon at age 46 in 2004.
- In 1932 Geraldine Watson was the first women to complete both the up and down run. She did so as an unofficial entrant as women were still unable to enter.
- The first international runners to run Comrades were from England and did so in 1962.
- 1975 was the year that the Comrades marathon opened up entries to allow both women and runners of colour to enter the marathon. That year Vincent Rakabele was the first black man to ever finish Comrades and Elizabeth Cavanaugh was the first woman to officially win Comrades.
- Sam Tshabalala was the first black man to win comrades. He won in 1989.
- The leading male will average a speed of 15.3 km an hour...
- The average man’s temperature will reach 40 degrees Celsius after 3 hours. Avoid heatstroke on hotter days (like 2013’s record high temperatures) by pouring water over your head.
- It will take you approximately 11 250 strides to complete the comrades.
- For every kilometre ran – 66 joints, 52 bones and more than a 100 ligaments, muscles and tendons hit the ground an average of 1 000 times.
- Runners who have run 25 Comrades finishes to their name, run for free.
- 43% of runners will likely suffer cramps.
- You will sweat out approximately 4.5 litres of liquid. Staying hydrated by drinking water, energy drinks at regularly intervals is a must.
- After you hit the 30km mark your body will have used up all your carbohydrate and will start eating away at your protein stores.
- Runners lose between 2kg to 5kg during Comrades.
- Over 50% of the field will finish in the last hour, while up to 20% will not finish.
- 2013 was one of the toughest Comrades in history, thanks to unprecedented high temperatures and winds. Out of 19 907 entrants 14 336 started the race. Only 10 188 finished, 7000 of them in the final 90 minutes.
- Bruce Fordyce, Comrades King has won 9 times. Russia’s Elena Nurgalieva has eight wins.
- The fastest time for the Comrades Ultra Marathon (male) is 5 hours, 13 minutes, and 58 seconds, achieved by Tete Dijana of South Africa during the "Down" course in 2023.
- Gerda Steyn won the 2019 Comrades Marathon in a record time of 5 hours, 58 minutes, and 53 seconds, becoming the first woman to complete the uprun in under six hours.
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