Bruce Fordyce
 Bruce Fordyce at his 500th parkrun | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality | South African | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 3 December 1955 Hong Kong | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | University of the Witwatersrand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Bruce Noel Stevenson Fordyce (born 3 December 1955 in Hong Kong) is a South African marathon and ultramarathon athlete who was also active in opposing Apartheid. He is best known for having won the South African Comrades Marathon a record nine times, of which eight wins were consecutive. He also won the London to Brighton Ultramarathon three years in a row. He is the former world record holder over 50 miles and the former world record holder over 100 km.
Early life and education
[edit]Born in Hong Kong to Evan Noel and Nancy Ann (Née Stevenson), Fordyce moved with his family to Johannesburg when he was 13 years old.[1] He completed his school career at Woodmead High School and subsequently attended the University of the Witwatersrand,[1] where he obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1977 and his Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in 1979. During this time he was also a member of the university's anti-apartheid Student Representative Council as well as a committee member of the Wits Athletic Club. He married Gillian Leigh (Née Bruce)
Comrades Marathon
[edit]In 1977, when Fordyce first ran the Comrades Marathon, he placed 43rd out of 1,678 entries. He placed 14th in 1978, 3rd in 1979, 2nd in 1980,[2] and was the winner for an unprecedented eight consecutive years from 1981 to 1988; he won it again in 1990.[1] No other runner in the history of the Comrades has achieved this feat. Fordyce also held the record time for the "up" run (Durban to Pietermaritzburg) and his record of 5:24:07 for the "down" run (Pietermaritzburg to Durban) stood for 21 years from 1986 until it was broken in 2007 by Russia's Leonid Shvetsov.
| Year | Position | Time | Direction | Medal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | 43 | 06:45:00 | Up | Silver |
| 1978 | 14 | 06:11:00 | Down | Silver |
| 1979 | 3 | 05:51:15 | Up | Gold |
| 1980 | 2 | 05:40:31 | Down | Gold |
| 1981 | 1 | 05:37:28 | Up | Gold |
| 1982 | 1 | 05:34:22 | Down | Gold |
| 1983 | 1 | 05:30:12 | Up | Gold |
| 1984 | 1 | 05:27:18 | Down | Gold |
| 1985 | 1 | 05:37:01 | Up | Gold |
| 1986 | 1 | 05:24:07 | Down | Gold |
| 1987 | 1 | 05:37:01 | Up | Gold |
| 1988 | 1 | 05:27:42 | Up | Gold |
| 1990 | 1 | 05:40:25 | Up | Gold |
| 1991 | 328 | 06:57:02 | Down | Silver |
| 1994 | 19 | 06:01:54 | Up | Silver |
| 1995 | 2232 | 08:42:48 | Down | Bronze |
| 1996 | 329 | 06:59:30 | Up | Silver |
| 2000 | 2691 | 08:41:11 | Up | Bill Rowan |
| 2001 | 2790 | 08:50:52 | Down | Bill Rowan |
| 2002 | 4252 | 09:48:46 | Up | Bronze |
| 2003 | 2784 | 08:53:12 | Down | Bill Rowan |
| 2004 | 3088 | 09:26:02 | Up | Bronze |
| 2005 | 2311 | 08:45:20 | Down | Bill Rowan |
| 2006 | 3596 | 09:41:11 | Up | Bronze |
| 2007 | 3861 | 09:48:18 | Down | Bronze |
| 2008 | 3710 | 10:07:33 | Up | Bronze |
| 2009 | 3818 | 09:48:21 | Down | Bronze |
| 2010 | 965 | 07:55:03 | Down | Bill Rowan |
| 2011 | 488 | 07:30:31 | Up | Bill Rowan |
| 2012 | 1099 | 08:06:10 | Down | Bill Rowan |
He has thus completed 30 Comrades Marathons,[1] including the remarkable result of posting identical times in 1985 and 1987. In 2011 he aimed for a silver medal, but missed this by 31 seconds (finishing time of 7 hours 30 minutes 31 seconds).
London to Brighton Ultramarathon
[edit]Fordyce won the London to Brighton ultramarathon 3 years running from 1981 to 1983.[3][4]
World record holder
[edit]Fordyce was the world record holder over 50 miles, when he covered the distance in 4hr 50min 51sec at the 1984 AMJA 50 Mile Ultramarathon in Chicago, IL, until the record was broken by Jim Walmsley on 5 May 2019.[5][6] Fordyce holds the 50-mile record for the United States All Comers Race.[2][7]
Political activism
[edit]Fordyce was strongly anti-apartheid.[8] On his first victory race in 1981 he wore a black armband to protest against the 20th anniversary celebrations of the apartheid republic[3] attracting boos and even some rotten tomatoes thrown by a fellow runner. Fordyce has claimed this protest as "one of the proudest moments in my life".[2]
Books, journalism and motivational speaker
[edit]In addition to having written two books about the Comrades Marathon, Fordyce was also a sports columnist for various newspapers and magazines, and a SABC television commentator for the 2014 event. He is also a motivational speaker and the chief executive officer of the South African Sports Trust.
Parkrun
[edit]Fordyce also introduced the parkrun running events to South Africa in November 2011.[9][10] This is a collection of free-entry weekly 5k run events. There are now 210 parkrun events in South Africa as of 16 October 2023.[11] Fordyce ran his 500th parkrun at Delta Park, Johannesburg, the first South African parkrun venue, on 14 October 2023.[12]
Other honours
[edit]In 2004, he was voted 64th in the Top 100 Great South Africans.
In 2007, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of the Witwatersrand.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Munien, Mallory (1 June 2017). "Bruce Fordyce is inspiring a new generation of running enthusiasts". Daily News. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
- ^ a b c Bloomfield, Mark (2005). "UltraRunning Interview: Comrades Champion Bruce Fordyce". UltraRunning. Archived from the original on 30 March 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
- ^ a b "Bruce Fordyce to Receive Honorary Degree from Wits University, his Alma Mater". University of the Witwatersrand. 20 November 2007. Archived from the original on 2 March 2011.
- ^ Morgan, Brad (February 2010). "Bruce Fordyce: Comrades King". southafrica.info. Archived from the original on 10 January 2014. Retrieved 17 August 2008.
- ^ "DUV Ultra Marathon Statistics". statistik.d-u-v.org. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
- ^ "USATF - Statistics - Records". 29 January 2022. Archived from the original on 29 January 2022. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
- ^ "USATF - Statistics - Records". 29 January 2022. Archived from the original on 29 January 2022. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
- ^ Bruce Fordyce, University of the Witwatersrand Honorary Degree Citation
- ^ "Parkrun takes off in South Africa". Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
- ^ "Spotlight on: South Africa". Retrieved 16 October 2023.
- ^ "Parkrun South Africa". Parkrun. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
- ^ "Results: Delta parkrun". Parkrun. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
External links
[edit]- South African Who's Who – Bruce Fordyce
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