Medal of the 75th Anniversary of the Comrades Marathon and the Millennium Race.

The Comrades Marathon medal has remained true in size and design since its inception in 1921. There are some that speak slightingly of its size and general appearance as being insignificant, but as Morris Alexander wrote in his book " The Comrades Marathon Story":

"No sports medals have ever been so dearly won and cherished as the Comrades Marathon medals. It was surely an original stroke of genius on the part of Comrades founder Vic Clapham to reward with these medals the efforts of all those who completed the course within the prescribed time"

The medal is 29mm in diameter and depicts the words "COMRADES MARATHON" and "MARITZBURG - DURBAN" encircling a striding figure of Hermes with winged feet and helmet. It would seem that the figure of Hermes was chosen as the emblem of Comrades Marathon on the basis of his renown as the messenger of the gods according to Greek mythology. He was also the god of land travel and the patron of roads and his relevance to Comrades can perhaps be drawn from this connection.

Commemorative medals

On only three occasions has the medal changed in size and design. The size of the commemorative medal has remained constant at 40mm diameter although the design of the medal has been specific to the occasion.

1975 - A special medal was struck to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Comrades Marathon. This medal bore a commemorative '50'.

1988 - A special medal was struck to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the City of Pietermaritzburg.

2000 - A special medal was struck to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the Comrades Marathon and the Millennium Race. This was one of the few medals to change the wording "MARITZBURG - DURBAN" to read "DURBAN - MARITZBURG".