2023 July Tan Time Trial Results

It was 50 years ago today

Max Trimborn’s cock-crow sent them on their way

They’ll be running 54.8 mile

But they’re guaranteed to raise a smile

So may I introduce to you

The act you’ve known for all these years

The annual Comrades Marathon

(with apologies to you know who)

Diary entry:   Friday 1st June 1973 

Weather:    Cold with clear sky at start, becoming partly cloudy and mild to warm late morning. Temperature –  3/21°C

Official Distance:   88.2km   (downhill run)

Starters:   1366

Finishers:  1225

Start venue/time:     Pietermaritzburg City Hall / 6:00

Finish venue:   Sports Stadium, University of Natal, Durban

Winners Finish time:    5 h 39 m 09 s

My Finish time:    10 h 09 m   981/1225

There were a record number of runners, 173 more than 1971, with quite a few from the UK including Mick Orton who had won the previous year. There were 723 novice entries. Lost amongst the official entries were a bevy of black males and white females whom Athletic Association rules debarred from competing officially. There were 42 of us from the University of Cape Town who finished the race but unfortunately didn’t manage to win the inter-varsity completion. Most of us travelled the 1600km from Cape Town to Durban by mini-bus or car.
As the chimes of 6-o-clock rang out from the City Hall clock there was the sound of the starters pistol followed by 71 year old Max Trimborn’s traditional cock-crow. The runners moved off with pushing and shoving and a charge down Commercial Road to the Umsindusi Bridge, some trying to gain 20m lead and a few minutes of glory. I was soon left near the back of the field.

In those days there were no drink stations provided and you were responsible for your own refreshments, etc. Most people had someone in a car to second them which involved negotiating the traffic to get ahead of their runner, park, wait for them to come past and give them water or flat Coke (energy drinks hadn’t been invented yet), jelly beans, etc, run back to the car, try and break into the traffic and repeat the procedure at some nominated points along the route. The roads were often back roads, narrow, through unpopulated areas,  without footpaths and there was no GPS to guide you along the route.

I came up with a plan to have a friend, who was at the Uni of Natal, second me and borrow a 50cc Honda to make getting round in the traffic easier. As luck would have it the students Honda he borrowed broke down and he never made it from Durban to the start at Pietermaritzburg so I was left without support along the way. Fortunately the route is always lined with spectators who are happy to provide anything they can to assist you. There was always encouragement and often beer, wine, or a meal from their bbq’s and an update from their transistor radios on the status of the leading runners.

I hadn’t run further than a standard marathon in my training so the race was a challenge, and I’m sure painful although time has blurred those memories. Fortunately sometime in the second half of the race I caught up with an old school friend who had run his first Comrades the previous year, and we ran to the finish together. (John subsequently ran a 7h 5m Comrades in 1981). There were no running watches to provide splits or your average pace, no hi-tec running clothing and Asic Boston Blues were the running shoe of choice. However I am sure the feeling of accomplishment back then was no different to that of a novice today.

The following day we hopped in the car and headed back to Cape Town, with frequent stops to relieve cramping legs.

It was another 8 years before I did my second Comrades in 1981, this time an uphill run from Durban to Pietermaritzburg, finishing in 8h 11m 52s. I think the extra distance training paid off.

In 1975, the Golden Jubilee of the Comrades, the race was opened to runners of all race groups and to women. Vincent Rakabele finished 20th to become the first black runner to officially win a medal. Elizabeth Cavanaugh became the first women’s winner.

Vic Clapham was the founder of the Comrades Marathon, the world’s largest ultra-marathon, of approximately 90 km held annually between Durban and Pietermaritzburg in South Africa. As a WW 1 veteran, Clapham conceived the race to commemorate the South African soldiers killed during the war. It was run for the first time on 24 May 1921 with 34 starters. This year there were 16000 starters. Just before covid in 2019 the field was capped at 25000, entries closed after one week!

It is run annually with the direction of the race alternating each year between the “up” run starting from Durban (at sea level) and the “down” run starting from Pietermaritzburg. The distance of each race has varied over the years depending on the start and finish point in each city. A profile of the elevation below gives and idea of why it is an up or down course.

My running started in the 70’s, and my early twenties, when I played club rugby (union) in Cape Town and my off-season way to keep fit was to run with a group of friends (non-rugby players) on the slopes of Table Mountain. With encouragement from them I entered my first marathon (3h17m) and then the Comrades in 1973. I arrived in Melbourne in 1979 and ran my first Big M Melbourne marathon in 1981. I helped found the VRR in 1982 and have continued running since, albeit much slower these days.