Bruce Fordyce - the swashbuckling ultra runner who conquered Comrades
Adharanand Finn's wonderful description of the South African legend reminded us of our interview with him
We thought we’d share a brilliant description of ultra running legend Bruce Fordyce which caught our attention this week. It goes like this…
The growth in popularity of the Comrades Marathon was partly down to "the emergence of a young, long-haired, swashbuckling runner named Bruce Fordyce, who won the race a record nine times between 1981 and 1990.
"The sight of Fordyce catching the leaders year after year and powering to victory with his trademark finish, his blond hair flowing in the afternoon light, captured the imagination of millions of fans."
We love this description of South African Fordyce, found in the brilliant 'The Rise of the Ultra Runners' by Adharanand Finn (buy it, read it!).
Running Tales was lucky enough to interview Bruce in August 2021, when we spoke to him about his love of Comrades - including helping track legend Zola Budd complete the event, winning the London to Brighton race three years in a row, and his role as chief executive of parkrun South Africa.
Click the player below to listen:
This week on…
The podcast:
This week’s Running Tales guest was the fantastic Ken Posner, who has has run more than 100 marathons and ultra marathons including the 295-mile Badwater Double.
As well as smashing out the miles, Ken is a running minimalist and we spoke to him about barefoot running and how eschewing many of the modern comforts of running has helped him improve his form and becoming mentally resilient.
We also spoke to Ken about his role as the race director for Shawangunk Ridge Trail, a 70-mile ultra that takes place just outside New Jersey.
You can read more about Ken's story on his website: https://www.barefootken.com/
You can find Running Tales at www.runningtales.podbean.com and wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Substack:
In case you’ve missed our latest Substack stories, we’ve had another busy week with a fantastic guest blog from Sarah Longstaff and the story of the triathlete who can’t stop smiling, Mario Massarelli.
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As a 20 times Ironman finisher, Mario Massarelli knows what it is like to struggle during a race - but despite all the pain and effort he always finishes with a smile on his face.
He told Running Tales: “Even in the races where I suffer a lot, where I have problems, where it was difficult to finish, at the end it is an incredible experience.”
Sarah, who Running Tales interviewed about her own achievement of running 30 miles when she turned 30, kindly allowed us to produce her blog post examining the barriers women face in the world of running.
Her original post can be seen on her blog page. Sarah looks into how women are still treated as second-class citizens in the world of running, from dodgy deferral policies to malign marketing.
It’s well worth a read.
Your running this week:
We’re fast approaching our first event of the year, the Stamford Striders 30k - a road bump on the way to Michelle taking on the London Marathon!
Training has been ramping up, but we’ve been amazed by some of the mileage being achieved by you incredible people out there.
Whether you have a big race coming out, an important milestone or are just out for a run round your local area, we’d love to hear what you’re up to.
Just let us know in the comments below.