Comrades Marathon by John Cameron-Dow

Comrades Marathon (Comprehensive Comrades Marathon History, 1921-2010)

The Complete Race-by-Race History of South Africa's Great Ultramarathon, with a Foreword by Bruce Fordyce

Bibliographic Specifications

• Title: Comrades Marathon: The Ultimate Human Race
• Author: John Cameron-Dow
• Publisher: Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd
• Publication Date: 2011
• ISBN-13: 9780143527923
• Edition Details: First published 2011.
• Binding: Publisher's grey cloth hardcover, title blocked in black on the front board, in a printed dust jacket.
• Physical Format: Large heavy hardcover of over 400 pages, with results tables.
• Language: English

Official Condition Report

• The Book: Very Good (VG)
• Exterior / Boards: The grey cloth boards are clean, with the title blocked in black on the front. A small dark mark is visible at the foot of the front board. The spine is straight.
• Interior: The text pages are clean and bright, with no foxing, marking or annotation. The binding is tight and the book opens flat. The page edges are clean and slightly toned.
• The Dust Jacket: Present. The printed jacket, with a photograph of runners, is clean and bright overall, with light edge rubbing and slight edge wear at the top of the spine and the fore-edges. A Penguin non-fiction price sticker is on the back. It is protected in a durable archival-type plastic cover.

Synopsis & Historical Value

Comrades Marathon: The Ultimate Human Race, published by Penguin Books South Africa in 2011, is a comprehensive history of the Comrades Marathon, the ultramarathon run between Durban and Pietermaritzburg. It begins with the first race in 1921 and describes each running in turn, up to the commemorative 85th race in 2010.

The race began as a tribute to the South African soldiers who died in the First World War. The first race was held on Empire Day, 24 May 1921, with 34 starters. John Cameron-Dow goes beyond a dry record of results. He profiles the great champions, gives warm and admiring attention to the runners at the back of the field, and includes the humorous anecdotes of the race's lore.

Bruce Fordyce contributes the foreword. The book is a substantial reference for runners, sports historians and collectors of South African sporting literature.

Author Profile: John Cameron-Dow

John Cameron-Dow is a South African runner and author, and a veteran of ten Comrades Marathons. For this history he had access to the Comrades Marathon Association archives and carried out many hours of personal interviews. The project took about ten years, including seven years of research and writing.

His earlier work includes the biography Bruce Fordyce: Comrades King (Nedbank Sport/Guidebook Publications, 2001).

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