The Comrades Marathon

The Comrades Marathon is run annually between the capital of Kwazulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, and the balmy coastal city of Durban. The distance can vary slightly from year to year, but it usually is in the region of 90 kilometres.
The race attracts approximately 13 000 runners, and the route is lined by great numbers of cheering supporters. The biggest entry in the history of the Comrades Marathon occurred in 2000, when the race celebrated its 75th anniversary. An extra hour was allowed for bronze medal finishers to celebrate the milestone and the public responded in incredible fashion with the field topping out at 23 961.
Since the introduction of prize money, the Comrades has also drawn some of the world's top ultra-distance athletes. The undoubted King of the Comrades, though, is South Africa's Bruce Fordyce, who won the grueling race an astounding nine times between 1981 and 1990.
In recent times, runners from overseas have also claimed their share of victories, including Vladimir Kotov winning the up run for Durban to Pietermaritzburg three times in succession, but no one has managed in any way to duplicate the successes of Fordyce in both directions.
The popularity of the Comrades is based largely on some dramatic finishes over the years. But it is not the race for the title that provides the drama as much as the struggle for the also-rans, right at the end of the race, to cross the finish line before the cutoff gun sounds for medals.
Special mention should be made of Isavel Roche-Kelly, who became the first woman to win a silver medal in 1980. More than that, however, she also won the Cape Argus Pick 'n Pay Cycle Tour in 1984, making her the only woman to achieve the unique double of victories in the Comrades and the Cycle Tour.