Comrades Marathon: The Ultimate Human Race – A RACE TO REMEMBER – The book presentation

ABOUT THE BOOK
The Comrades Marathon is the world's largest and oldest ultramarathon race. It is a festival celebrating the triumph of human spirit over adversity.

It has a camaraderie that enables ordinary mortals to overcome human fragility and perform beyond their
wildest expectations. In the words of Comrades marvel Bruce Fordyce, this race ‘can inspire ordinary people to do extraordinary things, and it brings out the best in all of us. This race has a power to transform, to inspire and to motivate unlike any other'.

The official Comrades Marathon: The Ultimate Human Race begins in 1921 and chronologically describes every race in detail, up to 2010's commemorative 85th event.

All the legends are here, in their full Comrades glory and human frailty: Arthur Newton, Hardy Ballington, Wally Hayward, Jackie Mekler, Alan Robb, Bruce Fordyce, and others. But there is also deeply affectionate and admiring coverage of the backmarkers, the ones often called ‘the real Comrades runners' – those ‘ordinary people' behind the front-runners.

This meticulously researched account will certainly inspire all types of athletes, but more than that, it will evoke a sense of wonder at what body and mind can achieve in pursuit of extreme challenge. The heartbreaking and heart-stopping moments are documented alongside the countless successes and triumphs, as well as a rich collection of humorous and quirky anecdotes from Comrades lore.

PUB DATE: May 2011

TITLE: Comrades Marathon: The Ultimate Human Race
ISBN: 9780143527923
PRICE: R280

An updated history of the Comrades Marathon is long overdue, and author John Cameron-Dow is uniquely qualified to write about this remarkable athletic event: he holds a prized green number – mark of a ten-time Comrades medallist.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John Cameron-Dow is the successful author of several books, most notably The Two Oceans Marathon Story and Bruce Fordyce: Comrades King – Fordyce's biography. He is a Comrades green number holder (3155). He has completed 56 marathons, and still refers to his first Comrades, which he ran in 1984, as a life-changing
experience, and a head-over-heels case of ‘love at first fright'!

Comrades Marathon: The Ultimate Human Race is available at all good book stores. 

For more information contact Candice Wiggett on 011 327 3550 or Candice.Wiggett@za.penguingroup.com
Issuing officer, Penguin Books SA