THE COMRADES MARATHON STORY 1975 - MORRIS ALEXANDER - HISTORY& LISTS OF RESULTS 1921-1975 map/photos

  With old black and white old photos and route map Pietermaritzburg to Durban and pages of results with Names and positions from 1921 - 1976 with History. '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.

Perhaps the greatest contribution by Collegians Harriers to athletics, in particular road running, is the club’s organization of the Comrades Marathon. Morris Alexander in his book "The Comrades Marathon Story" arguably the most definitive history of the Comrades Marathon, records that, "since 1948 when the Collegians rescued the almost moribund race from its previous organizers it was carefully built up by them to the present mammoth, highly successful event". This was in reference to a decision taken in 1981 to form the Comrades Marathon Association to assume the future responsibility of organizing the Comrades Marathon.www.collegiansharriers.co.za

Juta & Company Limited 262 pages, 1976 2nd edition good condition, well binded clean pages, last few pages in book light even age spots, no writing in book. Hardbacks tight but show little scuffing, light spots on rear and few marks on front.

Postage for book anywhere in South Africa will be R30 with tracking number.