Fordyce reflects on Comrades

2005-06-14 16:24

Jonathan Cook

Durban - Bruce Fordyce, nine-time Comrades Marathon winner, was once described by sports science expert Tim Noakes as "a vision of athletic perfection that is unlikely to be equalled".

The man who holds the down run record - 5:24:07 - set in 1986, says he has "not a clue who could win this year's race", and who might challenge his epic effort, though he concedes it's got to happen sooner or later as "records are made to be broken".

The 80th running of Comrades is from Pietermaritzburg to Durban this year - a down run - and takes place on Thursday, June 16.

"The 1986 [down run] record still stands, so I wonder whether the so-called extra professionalism [of today's runners] has been that significant," Fordyce says.

"Boysie van Staden was fourth in 1986 in 5:34 or so, [a time] with which you can sometimes win the down run nowadays. We trained pretty hard, too," Fordyce says, sticking up for the runners of his era.

"I don't think the modern guys have worked out how to run the down run properly. You have to go down Fields Hill slowly and after Fields Hill you can start going flat out, but they start going hell for leather early on these days.

They all run flat out

"The other thing is, because of all these incentives to get records, they all run flat out to get the records. Records are a bonus - you run to win - and if a record is on, you get a bonus."

The 1966 Comrades champion, Tommy Malone, hailed Fordyce as the "Einstein of long-distance running". The Scot who was famously pipped to the post the year after by Manie Kuhn, also called Bruce a "running genius", though "the blonde bullet" always preferred the up run to the down run.

"I was a much better up runner," Fordyce says. "On the down run it is hard to close gaps and it's hard to get away from your competitors because your legs get so hammered by the steep down hill, whereas on the up run you can make up an unbelievable gap, you can be a long way behind someone and you can catch him, or you can open up an enormous lead, which you can't on the down run. Only Alan Robb in '78 did it, but he was in a league of his own then on that particular run."

Regarding his dream 5:24:07 down run in 1986, a record that has survived 18 assaults on it, Fordyce is clear on why it went so well for him.

Pushed hard that year

"There were a few factors that governed that run. One was the competition I was pushed hard that year by Bobby de la Motte [second] and Hoseah Tjale [third]. Second, I had worked out a very good training programme to get fit for the down run.

"The year before [1985] I started doing a lot of work on the track, the first year that I ever did track racing. I did a lot of 5 000m, 10 :000m and 1 500m, that sort of stuff, so I picked up a lot more speed.

"Also, for the first time in several years I hadn't run a second ultra. You know, I used to run the London to Brighton after Comrades and then the one year I ran the 50-mile champs in the second half of the year and so I was doing two major ultras a year.

"But in '85 I decided not to, I just ran Comrades, so in fact it was a year since I had gone that hard over such a long distance I think that helped."

Fordyce, whose domination of the eighties was absolute and is arguably the one person who most contributed to the burgeoning appeal of Comrades at the time, showed his humorous side when asked what decrees the Comrades Marathon Association could introduce to the race.

"Wally Hayward, Jackie Mekler, Alan Robb and myself all agree that Comrades should give retroactive prize money Wally wants his five times R200 000!"

As far as this year's Comrades goes for Bruce Fordyce?

"I'll break nine hours this year, training's gone okay. "I'm turning 50 this year, so beating Frith van der Merwe is out of the question.

"Heck, she's only 40! But I can promise you one thing: I'll drill [Egoli star] David Vlok!" - The Witness

- News24