South Africa Runs the First Comrades Marathon

On May 24, 1921, thirty-four runners departed Pietermaritzburg to compete in a gruelling new road race across KwaZulu-Natal to Durban. Conceived by First World War veteran Vic Clapham, the competition was created as a living memorial to honour the fallen soldiers of the conflict. Clapham envisioned an ordeal of human stamina and resilience, matching the physical grit demanded of troops in the field. Bill Rowan emerged victorious in that inaugural edition, crossing the line in eight hours and fifty-nine minutes. Sixteen of the starters finished the first course of about eighty-eight kilometres, and the contest grew into what the organisers call one of the world's oldest and largest ultramarathons.

From that single run developed an annual tradition defined by a changing direction. The race alternates each year between the inland ascent known as the up run, starting in coastal Durban, and the down run, which begins inland at the Pietermaritzburg City Hall. The distance fluctuates slightly between eighty-seven and ninety kilometres depending on route adjustments. Regardless of the direction, competitors encounter the Big Five, a notorious sequence of major ascents comprising Cowies Hill, Fields Hill, Bothas Hill, Inchanga, and Polly Shortts. The highest elevation along the journey reaches roughly 870 metres above sea level near Umlaas Road, punishing athletes with sustained elevation changes before the final stretch.