HISTORY
RACE RESULTS
Date | Wednesday, 24 May |
Weather | Cool at start. Strong headwind at Drummond and Inchanga. |
Start Venue/Time | Durban Post Office, West Street / 6:00 |
Finish Venue | Alexandra Park Athletic and Cycle Track (The Duck Pond) |
Time Limit | 11 Hours |
Approx. Distance | 54 M |
Entries | 33 |
Starters | 29 |
Finishers – Total | 20 |
Men | 20 |
Medals – Gold | 6 |
Silver | 14 |
% Finishers / Starters | 69.0 |
THE MENS RACE
The first three, of the four, races after the War were won by pre-War winners so, when 1930 winner, Wally Hayward submitted his entry, eyebrows were, naturally, raised in anticipation. He was a distinct threat to Reg Allison, but Allison’s near-record win in 1949, and Hayward’s absence from long-distance running for 20 years, made Allison a slight favourite.
As first light was breaking over the Indian Ocean, a disappointingly small field of 29 were sent away from the Durban Post Office. Allison and Len Wootton went to the front and led the string of runners up to Tollgate. The pair led through Mayville in 24 minutes with Hayward a minute behind. Then came Bill Rufus, John Ballington, Liege Boulle, Morris Alexander and Trevor Allen bunched close behind.
Allison and Wootton reached 45th Cutting, 5 miles into the race, in 32m 52s, with Hayward next in 34m 18s. He was followed by Rufus (35m 32s) and Boulle (35m 42s). Then came Alexander, Allen and Ballington, separated by a few seconds.
Allison and Wootton pressed on over Cowie’s Hill and into Pinetown, passing the Town Hall in 1h 28m 37s. Hayward had closed the gap to 300 yards, reaching the checkpoint in 1h 29m 51s. Ballington was 4th in 1h 36m 4s. The long pull up Field’ Hill told on Wootton, and near the top he was caught by Hayward who had also reduced Allison’s lead to 50 yards.
Hayward was running splendidly and caught Allison at the 20-mile mark and, passing through Hillcrest in 2h 29m 6s, held a lead of 300 yards. Running strongly, Hayward led by just under a mile at the Drummond checkpoint, clocking 3h 17m 8s, with Allison next in 3h 23m 15s. Following him, came Wootton (3h 36m 45s), Allen (3h 43m 40s) and Ballington (3h 44m 4s).
Over the next section to Camperdown, where he was timed at 4h 49m 16s, Hayward built a substantial lead over Allison, who reached there in 5h 10m 16s. Allen passed Wootton a mile before the village.
There was much excitement when the timekeepers realised that Hayward was 34 seconds ahead of Ballington’s time in 1938 when he set a new Best Time, but the euphoria soon wore off when it was noticed that the extreme heat and strong headwind caused Hayward to lose the fluidity in his stride. He dropped to a walk on sections of Polly Shortt’s, but was in no danger of being overtaken. He worked his way wearily to the finish in Alexandra Park to record his second victory; 20 years after his first in 1930.
Allison had dropped a long way behind Hayward, finishing 13 minutes adrift. After a great battle with Wootton, on the run-in from the top of Polly Shortts, Allen finished in 3rd position.
RESULT
1st | Wally Hayward | South Africa |
6h 46m 25s |
2nd | Reg Allison | South Africa | 6h 59m 35s |
3rd | Trevor Allen | South Africa | 7h 32m 37s |
4th |
Len Wootton |
South Africa | 7h 38m 47s |
5th | Morris Alexander | South Africa | 7h 44m 36s |
6th | John Ballington | South Africa | 7h 47m 48s |
7th | Liege Boulle | South Africa | 7h 59m 14s |
8th | Brian Dankwerts | South Africa | 8h 20m 40s |
9th | W.K. Vorster | South Africa | 8h 21m 00s |
10th | Don Spencer | South Africa | 8h 27m 53s |
VETERANS (AGE 40 – 49)
1st | Wally Hayward (40) | South Africa |
6h 46m 25s New Best Time Up |
2nd | Liege Boulle (41) | South Africa | 7h 59m 14s |
3rd | W. K. Vorster (43) | South Africa | 8h 21m 00s |