Images : Courtesy Comrades Marathon , Norrie Williamson & The Observation Post |
The Comrades Marathon celebrated its centenary on Monday 24 May . It was exactly 100 years earlier that the ‘ Maritzburg ’ Mayor started the original race with 34 of the 48 entrants lining up in front of the City Hall and setting off at 10 minutes past 7 o ’ clock , due to some snags . The athletes were given 12 hours to complete the distance to the City Hall in Durban . The author with Neil Bowles in Harding
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Arthur ‘ Greatheart ’ Newton , five-time winner of the Comrades Marathon
Virtually the entire route was on sandy roads , and the climbs on the so-called Big Five hills were nearly all steeper , and with poorer footing . In those days , there was also a railway crossing on Fields Hill , and the water jump at Tumble Inn , as the bridge had yet to be built . The distance was accepted as the road mile stone of 54 miles ( 86.9km ).
Bill Rowan took that first win in 8 hours 59 minutes , and his achievement is celebrated by the silverbronze medal introduced in the year 2000 for all runners who complete the modern event between 7 hours 30 minutes ( silver medal cut-off ) and 9 hours ( bronze medal ). Subsequent Comrades have thrown up many stars , characters and legends , but it was the second Comrades in 1922 that brought two friends to the race who had a massive and lasting impact on the race .
Sons of Harding
In The Comrades Marathon Story , written jointly by Morris and Douglas Alexander , they wrote : “ It was said that Greatheart , as Newton was then known , was made famous by the Comrades Marathon . It is equally true to say that he made the Comrades Marathon famous .” Arthur Francis Hamilton Newton came to South Africa from the UK in the early 1900s to live and farm in Harding in ( then ) Natal . Unfortunately , his farm was on land that the government subsequently rezoned for a local African
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Another son of Harding , Cecil Bill Payn , served in the First World War , after which he began teaching at the Durban High School . In 1922 he was playing provincial rugby and cricket for ( then ) Natal , and would later achieve Springbok colours in rugby , playing on the flank in two test matches against the 1924 touring team from Britain . He would eventually make 52 appearances for Natal in rugby , represent his province against the MCC touring team from Australia in cricket , box for Natal against Oxford and Cambridge , as well as win the Natal heavyweight title , play for Natal Baseball in 1930 , and earn Natal athletic colours for shot put .
Newton stayed at then 28-year-old Payn ’ s house on the eve of the 1922 Comrades , and in that time convinced the well-known sportsman that he could finish the Comrades . Thus the 1922 race initiated two linked stories about the Comrades Marathon that have not only survived the century , but truly encapsulate the spirit , determination and ethos of the race .
Bill Payn , Springbok
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