Tag: history

  • stories of the streets

    Comrades Marathon riches The stories of the people of Comrades make Comrades as rich as it is. One of them is story of the youngest finisher. The Templeton’s, father and 16 year-old son L.H, entered and ran the second Comrades, 1922. Father gave up. The boy didn’t and was given a “silver pocket watch” for…

  • Comrades spirit in the early days

    The spirit that makes Comrades unique started early. Arthur Newton When Arthur Newton won his second race, the third running of the event in 1923, he refused the first prize. The Comrades spirit expressed itself there, in its earliest years. His generous view was that the competition wasn’t fair. He had had nothing to do but train;…

  • More early stories

    As always my thesis: behind the numbers and the facts is the rich stories of the Comrades. Facts sourced from Morris Alexander’s The Comrades Story Father and Son What was the dinner-table discussion that led to the Templeton father and son running the 2nd Comrades Marathon together for much of the way? Son: You’re too…

  • Early history, early stories

    Always the name of the winner is inscribed big and bold: time, maybe age. But hardly ever, except for Alan Robb, is inscribed the colour of their socks, or as a poet asked, whether they dream of hunting tigers in red boots. Bill Rowan Who was Bill Rowan, winner of the first run in 1921?…

  • History – Origins

    There are lots of interesting accounts of the origins of the Comrades  in books and on the web, worth exploring. The basic facts are the same. But one idea is not given enough prominence. The idea behind,in, a hard but achievable run, was to recreate enough of the hardship that soldiers face to generate the…