Fordyce's record broken

2007-06-17 13:04

Durban - Bruce Fordyce was one of the first men to congratulate new 'Down Run' record holder Leonid Shvetsov of Russia after he had eclipsed the South African's 21-year-old mark in the 82nd running of the Comrades Marathon from Pietermaritzburg to Durban on Sunday.

Shvetsov won in 5:20:49 to better by nearly four minutes the 1986 winning time of Fordyce who said afterwards: "My time of 5:24.07 is now a thing of the past. Records come and Records go. But titles will always stay."

In his hey-day Fordyce was "Mr Comrades" as he won nine times - eight of them in succession on both the Up and Down runs.

The new holder Shvetsov said: "After finishing second six years ago when I had felt so good physically nearing the finish at the Sahara Stadium in Durban, I had always dreamt of being first home.

"It was my dream. It was my goal. It was my desire. It was my everything."

He had lived up to his pre-race forecast on Friday at a Harmony Gold media briefing and was obviously a very happy man Sunday after what has been described as a near unbelievable run.

Shvetsov said that while he had great respect for every other competitor in the race he had made up his mind to run his own race. "What a run", he said. "I am so very pleased"

He said that once he had got into the lead - by a much bigger margin than he had expected - he just kept going. "I simply never looked back", he said.

He also confirmed that he always had Fordyce's record in sight a kilometre or more away from the finish as he had been informed of the possibility of bettering the mark. "I just maintained my average pace of 3:35 per kilometre and it paid off handsomely.

"I am thrilled beyond words."

- SAPA