Bruce Fordyce, Comrades (Comrades Marathon)

Bruce Fordyce, Comrades. Johannesburg: Flower Press, 1985.

Paperback, 21 x 13.5 cm, card wraps, 120 pages, illustrated.

Wraps a little scuffed.

The 1979 'Up' Comrades Marathon will always be my favourite race. It was the year I first realised I had a talent for long distance races over hilly courses. It was the year I first struck gold. And it was the year that I realised that it was actually possible to run up Polly Shorts.
Since then I have won the race and I have run faster, but 1979 remains my favourite race because it was the year I learnt the most about myself. Though it is an immensely satisfying and moving moment to receive the winner's baton at the finish of another Comrades marathon, nothing compares with the pleasure I felt on Washington Road in 1979 when I realised that I had discovered how best to prepare myself for this great race.
In later years I grew stronger and more confident, and I refined the training process - discarding some ideas, introducing others - but these were all minor adjustments. The great breakthrough, with the important training and racing ideas, had been made in 1979.
This then is what my book is about: a detailed account of how I prepare myself for the race. And since we are all pretty similar (yes, even gold medallists sometimes have to walk) I believe the basic rules apply to everyone. There is no secret formula or magic trick. Hard work is the key - but hard work based on common sense, a great deal of caution, and a lot of fun.