HISTORY
RACE RESULTS
Date | Friday, 24 May |
Weather | Chilly at the start, warming to mild with a hot headwind in the vicinity of Umlaas Road. |
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 | 22 |
Starters | 8 |
Finishers – Total | 8 |
Men | 6 |
Medals – Gold | 6 |
Silver | 2 |
Finishers / Starters | 36.4 |
THE MENS RACE
When the guns finally fell silent in 1945, two former winners had made the supreme sacrifice. Phil Masterton-Smith fell in the Western Desert in 1941 and Frank Sutton drowned when his troopship was torpedoed off the coast, near Durban, in 1944.
Two previous winners, however, entered. A clash of giants was expected with Hardy Ballington and Bill Savage set to tee-off for another Titanic struggle. However, it was not to be. Ballington injured an ankle a week before race day when he was forced off the road by a car while out training. Among the entrants were a number off pre-war stalwarts. Dymock Parr (2nd in 1940), Keith Dubber, Bill Rufus and Liege Boulle all decided to give the race another try.
Rufus led the field up Berea Road with Cochrane and Parr not too far behind. He was clocked at Westville in 52m 50s, exactly 5 minutes ahead of Parr. Cochrane was another minute back. Over the hilly section to Pinetown, Rufus increased his lead, going through in 1h 31m 33s. Parr and Cochrane, running together, arrived in 1h 38m 50s, with Boulle clocking 1h 44m. Although Field’s Hill slowed Rufus slightly, he was still in the lead at Gillitts in 2h 14m 20s. Cochrane (2h 19m 52s) had gone ahead of Parr (2h 21m 10s) into 3rd position.
On the testing stretch between Hillcrest and Drummond, Rufus began to feel the effects of his early efforts and was overtaken by Cochrane as they ran into the halfway point, where the position was Cochane (3h 30m 28s), Rufus (3h 30m 35s) and Parr (3h 33m 44s). When both Rufus and Parr stopped for a massage at Drummond, Cochrane ran into a substantial lead as he climbed the tough Inchanga bank with comparative ease.
Cochrane reached Cato Ridge in 4h 40m. Parr was next in 5h 8m. Rufus was tiring and had dropped back into 4th position. Cochrane struck a bad patch after Cato Ridge and struggled as he strode towards Umlaas Road, allowing Parr to gain a few minutes. Nevertheless, he recovered and pulled away again over the hills to the top of Polly Shortt’s where he was a sure winner. A huge ovation greeted him as he entered Alexandra Park, crossing the line in 7h 2m 40s.
For Parr, it as a replay of 1940. He once again finished 2nd, a long way behind the winner. In 1940, it was 1h 50m. On this occasion, it was 58m. Rufus recovered on the run in from Umlaas Road to finish 3rd.
RESULT
1st | Bill Cochrane | South Africa |
7h 02m 40s |
2nd | Dymock Parr | South Africa | 8h 00m 27s |
3rd | Bill Rufus | South Africa | 8h 27m 06s |
4th | P.L. Christie | South Africa | 8h 54m 35s |
5th | Reg Allison | South Africa | 8h 55m 33s |
6th | Morris Alexander | South Africa | 9h 01m 30s |
7th | Liege Boulle | South Africa | 10h 04m 04s |
8th | Edgar Marie | South Africa | 10h 59m 58s |