WIN: Durbanites pen book to celebrate Comrades centenary

IF you have ever been part of, watched or supported someone running the Comrades Marathon, you would have experienced the camaraderie that is so strongly associated with the annual event.

It was this ‘spirit of oneness’, along with the history of the event, that two locals – Brad Morgan from Gillitts and Steve Camp from Winston Park – said they wanted to capture with the first-ever coffee table book of the world’s biggest and oldest ultra-marathon.

And succeed they did – despite the lockdown restrictions, the July 2021 riots and a tight six-month deadline.

From the moment you start flipping through the pages, not only are you captivated by the sheer sense of Ubuntu and human resilience but also all the different facets that have made the Comrades unique and world-renowned.

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“It’s such an iconic event, and it represents the best of South Africa. There is no other event like it, where everyday people can become heroes, and where the spectators play such a big role in getting the runners through. We wanted to bring the race to life by combining a rich blend of copy, which delves into the memorabilia: how the medals, badges and trophies are awarded – basically everything you ever wanted to know about the Comrades – with beautiful photographs,” explained Morgan, a former radio sports presenter and journalist.

Making the book visually appealing was a priority for the duo, said Camp.

“About ninety percent of the photographs in this book have never been published before, and that is something that [Morgan] and I were keen on – to try a fresh look of the Comrades. There have been lots of books written about the Comrades, but they have all been text heavy,” explained the avid sportsman.

By scouring the Msunduzi Municipal Library (formerly The Natal Society Library), as well as the archives of the Comrades Marathon Museum (also known as the Comrades House), both located in Pietermaritzburg, the two Durbanites not only uncovered rare rolls of film and slides of photos, but also shirts, shoes and scrapbooks that had been bequeathed by some of the race’s top past runners.

“It was also great to work out of that stuff because it was very personal for the runners, and they weren’t things that had been shared in books before. We found some cool items that came from important people in the history of the event,” added Morgan.

The research also uncovered some unique and never-shared-before stories – one of which Morgan shared with Caxton Local Media as a teaser:

“This is something most people did not know about. In the very first event, Vic Clapham, the guy who started the Comrades and organised everything… They are about to start the race and he realises, ‘I don’t have a starter’s pistol’. [Now he is] in a bit of a panic. He looked around and saw a policeman, so he ran up to the guy and said, ‘Please, please this is my issue. Could I borrow your revolver?’ and the policeman duly said yes. So, he got the policeman’s revolver and used it to start the race!”

“There are lots of amazing stories, and it was so difficult to condense a hundred years of these kinds of stories into a book that size,” said Camp.

“But we are really happy with what we’ve produced,” he said. “Book writing is not a full-time job for either [Morgan] or myself. It’s really a hobby. I think it is such an honour to [document] the history of the Comrades for its centenary year. We’ve both grown up on the route and followed it since we were ye high, and to be in a position where I was able to co-author the book with [Morgan], and put it together the way we wanted to, is something very special,” he added.

The ultimate aim of the books, they said, was not only to educate and entertain but to inspire people.

This, however, was not the dynamic duo’s first project together. In 2020 they successfully published a book on the legendary Dusi Canoe Marathon.

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In Your Stride: 100 Years of the Comrades Marathon can be bought at the Comrades Marathon Association or online via IGo Books at R480 (including door-to-door delivery), while Adventures on an African River: 70 Years of the Dusi Canoe Marathon is available through the Natal Canoe Club at R200.

To celebrate this year’s Comrades Marathon – which will take place on 28 August – as well its centenary, we will be giving away signed copies of the Dusi and Comrades books to one lucky winner.

Simply fill in the form below to stand a chance to win. Winners will be notified via telephone and must collect the books from the Highway Mail offices (115 Escom Road, New Germany).

Sorry, the competition closed at midnight on 26 July.