De La Motte pens novel about Comrades Marathon
Bob's memoirs give the reader a greater knowledge of South African running during the apartheid era and his life.
BOB de la Motte, one of the best runners never to have won the Comrades Marathon, penned a novel titled, Runaway Comrade, which he launched at Westville Athletics Club on Tuesday, 11 November.
The book takes a thought-provoking look at South African running during the apartheid era and Bob’s life. He is an ultra-marathon runner, a cyclist, a mountain-biker and Ironman competitor, an adventurer and most recently he has become an author.
He was born in South Africa and attended Wits University. During his career as a chartered accountant and later as an investment banker, he worked in South Africa, London, the USA and ultimately in Australia where he has lived since 1987. He has been successful in almost every endeavour he has attempted and has been recognised as a fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and as a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia.
Bob has a unique and remarkable record at Comrades with the distinction of being one of a select few individuals who have broken the previous record and not won. In all, he completed five Comrades Marathons between 1981 and 1987 in which he earned three gold, a silver and a bronze medal.
His epic duals with Bruce Fordyce were the stuff of legends and can be credited with pushing Fordyce to a 1986 down run record of 5:24:17 which stood for 21 years. A race in which Bob also beat the previous record in a time of 5:26:12. To this day, some 28 years later, only four athletes have run faster.
“The 1980s were a golden era for South African road running and particularly for Comrades. With the Comrades Marathon having been opened to men and women of all races in 1975, it became the model for normal sport in South Africa. By the 1980s in the midst of the apartheid era and international isolation, there was a tremendous upsurge in interest and a phenomenal depth of competition within South African distance running. The Comrades Marathon demonstrates on one day of the year how South Africans of all races could and should compete, behave and respect one another,” said Bob.
He said it is against the background of the politically turbulent 1980s, that he wrote a book which provides his own perspective of the Comrades Marathon, his experiences, rivalries, and some of the rich and remarkable friendships he made during the time.
Comrades Marathon Associations board member, Cheryl Winn said his book is one of the most enjoyable Comrades related books to have been written in a while.
