HISTORY
RACE RESULTS
Date | Saturday, 24 May |
Weather | Mild with fresh breeze. |
Start Venue/Time | Durban City Hall / 6:00 |
Finish Venue | Alexandra Park Athletic and Cycle Track (The Duck Pond) |
Time Limit | 11 Hours |
Approx. Distance | 54 M |
Entries | Unknown |
Starters | 55 |
Finishers – Total | 29 |
Men | 29 |
Medals-Silver | 29 |
% Finishers / Starters | 52.7 |
THE MENS RACE
The runners were sent away at 6 a.m. in bright moonlight. Frank Hayes led the charge up Berea Road and headed the field over Tollgate. Close on his heels was the Johannesburg novice, Wally Hayward, who was, in turn, followed by Frank Munnery. These three had drawn well away from the rest, but Hayward went into the lead shortly thereafter. He kept pushing hard and reaching Pinetown in 1h 27m, had a lead of over 5 minutes from Munnery. Next through was Albert Marie (1h 35m 55s) and the Savage brothers, Jack and Bill in 1h 37m 30s. Hayes had already retired.
Weather conditions were favourable, with a pleasant chill in the air, which Hayward took full advantage of, increasing the distance between himself and the following pack all the time. He passed through Hillcrest in 2h 27m; 11 minutes ahead of Munnery and 17 minutes ahead of Jack Savage.
Botha’s Hill held no fears for Hayward and he dropped easily down to Drummond, arriving at the midpoint in 3h 20m. In second place, with half the journey behind them, was Munnery (3h 36m 05s). Then followed the Savage brothers, Jack (3h 42m 20s) and Bill (3h 47m 25s), Bill Cochrane (3h 48m 30s) with Fred Wallace and Phil Masterton-Smith running together (3h 51m 5s).
Hayward climbed Inchanga without any trouble, but the big hill wrought changes behind him. Once all the leading contenders had negotiated the hill, Hayward held a lead of two miles over Munnery, while Masterton-Smith had moved ahead of Wallace.
Hayward was still leading at Harrison but the first telltale signs were beginning to show. He struggled bravely until Cato Ridge where cramp forced him to stop for a massage. Although he was forced to walk on all the hills, he hung on doggedly while Masterton-Smith was picking up places as he passed those ahead of him. Hayward still led at Camperdown in 5h 13m 25s, followed by Munnery (5h 24m), Jack Savage (5h 27m) and Masterton-Smith (5h 30m).
By Umlaas Road, Savage had moved into second place, 14 minutes behind Hayward, with the flying Masterton-Smith another minute adrift. On the long downhill section, with Munnery and Savage tiring, Masterton-Smith moved into second position. With Hayward walking on the hills, the distance back to the chaser dwindled rapidly as Masterton-Smith took the hills with ease.
It developed into an enthralling battle as the end approached. The gap, however, was just too great. Hayward crossed the finish line a mere 37 seconds ahead of the gallant Masterton-Smith.
RESULT
1st | Wally Hayward | South Africa |
7h 27m 26s |
2nd | Phil Masterton-Smith | South Africa | 7h 28m 03s |
3rd | Frank Munnery | South Africa | 7h 39m 30s |
4th |
Jack Savage |
South Africa | 7h 44m 31s |
5th | Fred Wallace | South Africa | 7h 55m 24s |
6th | Piet van Rooyen | South Africa | 8h 15m 02s |
7th | Bill Cochrane | South Africa | 8h 20m 21s |
8th | Albert Marie | South Africa | 8h 20m 50s |
9th | Rubin Shapiro | South Africa | 8h 27m 14s |
10th | Bill Savage | South Africa | 8h 29m 42s |