Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 68, March 2015 | Página 34

90 YEARS OF COMRADES
DUSTY BEGINNINGS

AMABEADIBEADI UPDATE
The latest news on the six official Comrades charities, and how you can run for a
great cause in the 2015 Comrades Marathon.

I

n the first 10 years of the Comrades from
1921 to 1930, conditions were a far cry from
the relatively comfortable modern standards.
Most of the roads between Pietermaritzburg
and Durban were not tarred, and had a
covering layer of red dust that measured up
to five centimetres deep at places. Those who
managed to finish the race were somewhat
unrecognisable by the time they reached the
end, being covered from head to toe in dust.
By 1931 the entire route was finally tarred
and runners no longer had to chew sandy grit
between their teeth as they ran.