INTRODUCTION
The Comrades Legacy
It’ s nearly time for the start of the 98th edition of the Comrades Marathon, so let’ s take a look back to where it all started, and why we hold this great race in such high esteem today! – BY SEAN FALCONER
Images: Comrades Marathon
In 1921, a small group of runners lined up in front of the Pietermaritzburg City Hall in the early morning sunshine. Of the 48 who had entered the race, only 34 made it to the start. When the race officially ended 12 hours later, only 16 had made it to the finish in Durban. It was the start of something great. It was the first Comrades Marathon, and it was an event that would go on to become an integral part of so many people’ s lives – and not just South Africans, but many an ultra-runner from other countries, too.
The race was born out of the First World War( 1914-18). Ex-soldier Vic Clapham returned from war duty and came up with the idea to organise a race between his home city, Pietermaritzburg, and the City of Durban, with the main aim of rekindling the camaraderie built up amongst the Allied troops during the long years in the trenches. He was initially denied permission to stage the race, but in 1921 received the go-ahead, and under the auspices of the Comrades of the Great War association, he laid the foundations of what was to become a national institution. Clapham was loaned £ 1 by the Comrades with which to organise everything … and he had to pay back every penny.
Everything about that first Comrades was done as simply and as cost-effective as possible. Clapham’ s sons helped by cycling around Maritzburg advertising the race. Their next task was to use their bicycles to go wake all the entrants on the morning of the race. Then they tended to the runners along the way, hitching a ride to Durban on the luggage van.
The early Comrades runners had to contend with gravel roads caked in a layer of dust up to five centimetres thick, and the route seemed to traverse every hill between the two cities. Some said the engineers of the day appeared intent on building every feature of the landscape into their creation! Luckily, the full route was tarred by 1931, and modern roads tend to be better designed and built … but the hills of KwaZulu-Natal are just as steep now as they were in 1921!
There were no refreshment stations in those early races, and the runners had to stop at hotels or taverns along the way to get a drink of water, or scrounge a drink from people they met along the road. They also had to organise their own attendants with transportation, whose job it was to attend to the needs of their charges. Many an exhausted attendant would swear never to do it again after begging, cajoling and threatening a runner to keep going. Yet they came back again and again, as did the runners.
How Things Have Changed …
Just over 100 years later, the modern Comrades Marathon is a very different race. The 2025 race, which will be the 98th edition overall and 49th edition of the Down Run from‘ Maritzburg to Durban, attracted over 24,000 entries, with 22,677 qualifying to start the race. This year’ s Comrades will feature 47 well-stocked refreshment stations, many vibey activations and spectator points, and huge crowds of spectators all along the route. A far cry from those pioneering races in the 1920s.
This will be the biggest Down Run in the history of the race, and that is why the Comrades Marathon Association decided to split the start into two groups, mainly for safety reasons, but also to give all runners in the field the chance of a faster, smoother run. The thing to keep in mind is that Start Group 2 runners will still have 12 hours to complete the race, but the slower runners in Group 2 will now cross the start line substantially quicker than if the whole field started together, and will have more open road ahead of them to get up to race pace earlier in the race.
All of this points to the 2025 Comrades being not just one of the biggest, but also one of the best in the storied history of this iconic ultra. And it will also be a dress-rehearsal for the 2027 Down Run, which will also mark the 100th edition of the race. That edition is expected to be even bigger, as many runners are already saying they simply must be part of the 100th Comrades celebrations … but that still lies in the future. For now, it’ s all about the 2025 race, and some 22,000 runners from all over the world lining up in Pietermaritzburg on Sunday 8 June and heading‘ down the road’ to Durban, traversing some of the most legendary hills in global road running.
All the best to those who will line up for the 2025 race, as well as those who will be supporting family and friends along the route. Thank you to all the volunteers, organisers, sponsors, partners and service providers whose hard work and dedication have made this race possible. And of course, let’ s continue to pay tribute to those who went before us … from Vic Clapham and his comrades of the Great War, to the many thousands of Comrades runners that he has inspired to take on his race.
More Than a Race – Isiko mpilo!
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