Comrades Marathon
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The Comrades Marathon is a South African ultramarathon run over a distance of approximately 90 km. The marathon is run between the capital of the Kwazulu-Natal Province, Pietermaritzburg, and the coastal city of Durban. The direction of the race alternates each year, alternating between the up run (about 87km) starting from Durban and the down run (about 89km) starting from Pietermaritzburg.
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[edit] The course
The race is run over a strenuous course which can be best described by "The Big Five". The Big Five are hills on the route of the Comrades Marathon and, on the up run they appear in the following order: Cowies Hill, Field's Hill, Botha's Hill, Inchanga, and finally, Polly Shortts. On the down run there are an equally challenging set of hills, and many runners are surprised that a race described as down still has some exceptionally tough hills to climb, including Inchanga, Alverstone, Bothas Hill and Cowies Hill.
[edit] History
The race was the idea of World War I veteran Vic Clapham, to commemorate the South African soldiers killed during the war. It was run for the first time on 24 May 1921, and except for a break during World War II, it has been run every year since. The 2005 event was the 80th running. The race is now run on 16 June each year (Youth Day in South Africa).
[edit] Winners
The winner of the first Comrades Marathon, in 1921, was Bill Rowan. He completed the 90 km race in 8 hours and 59 minutes.
There have been several multiple winners of the event. The first was Arthur Newton who won five races in the 1920s (1922, 23, 24, 25 & 27). Bruce Fordyce won the race for an unprecedented eight consecutive years between 1981 and 1988; he won it for the ninth time in 1990.
Frith van der Merwe was the first woman to set up astonishing records, including finishing 15th overall (out of all men and women).
Wally Hayward is another race legend. He first won the race in 1930, and then came back to win it in 1950, 1951, 1953 (being the first runner to ever win the race in under six hours), and again in 1954 (for five lifetime wins). He skipped Comrades in 1952 to concentrate on the Helsinki Olympic Marathon, where he placed 10th. Hayward ran Comrades again in 1988 at the age of 79, and ran his last comrades a year later.
[edit] Field size
The field size ranges between 10 000 and 13 000 runners each year, with a record field in 2000 of over 23000 runners. This makes it the world's largest ultra-marathon. [1]
South Africa is also home to the world's largest individually timed cycle race, the Cape Argus Cycle Race, and the world's largest open water swim, the Midmar Mile.
[edit] References
- ^ Alexander, Morris (1976). The Comrades Marathon Story. Juta. ISBN 0-70-210709-3.
