Tag: history
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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;…
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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?…
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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…