Vic Clapham came home from World War I carrying something heavier than his kit. He had watched men endure unimaginable suffering in the trenches, and he wanted to honor their resilience with a test of physical endurance -- something civilians could attempt that would approximate, however distantly, the stamina soldiers had needed to survive. His proposal to the athletics association was rejected multiple times before finally being accepted. On 24 May 1921, 34 runners lined up in Pietermaritzburg. Bill Rowan won the inaugural race in 8 hours and 59 minutes. The route covered roughly 88 kilometers between Pietermaritzburg and Durban, and the direction would alternate each year: the 'up' run climbing from the coast to the inland city, the 'down' run descending from the highlands to the sea. That alternation continues today, and it means no two consecutive Comrades are quite the same race.

Five hills define the course like characters in a novel. Cowies Hill, Fields Hill, Botha's Hill, Inchanga, and Polly Shortts -- the 'Big Five' -- appear in different order depending on the direction. In an up year, runners encounter Cowies, Fields, and Botha's in the first half, save their dwindling energy for the long grind of Inchanga after halfway, and face Polly Shortts within the final ten kilometers, when the body has the least to give. Polly Shortts is not the longest hill, but it is the steepest, and its placement makes it the most decisive. The highest point on the course, near the Umlaas Road interchange at roughly 870 meters above sea level, marks the moment when the terrain begins to relent. In a down year, the order reverses, and the steep descents that seem like gifts in the early kilometers exact their toll on the quadriceps long before the finish at Moses Mabhida Stadium.

For its first five decades, the Comrades reflected the exclusions of the society around it. Black runners and women were not officially permitted to compete until 1975, when Vincent Rakabele became the first black runner to officially earn a medal and Elizabeth Cavanaugh became the first official women's finisher. The 1980s accelerated the transformation. Sam Tshabalala became a champion, Olive Anthony broke ground as a pioneering black female finisher, and Bruce Fordyce began an extraordinary run of nine victories that still stands as the men's record. Frith van der Merwe set a women's course record of 5:54:43 in 1989 that endured for decades. The race date itself shifted from Republic Day to Youth Day, reflecting the country's changing political identity. By the time prize money arrived in 1995, the Comrades had evolved from a whites-only endurance test into a genuinely national event.

Arthur Newton dominated the 1920s with five victories, and today a small recess in the roadside embankment near Drummond is known as Arthur's Seat -- tradition holds it was his resting spot on race day. Runners still greet 'Arthur' or leave a flower as they pass, hoping for luck in the second half. Wally Hayward won in the 1930s and 1950s, then returned to complete the race at age 80 in 1989 -- 58 years after his first win. Russian identical twins Elena and Olesya Nurgalieva won ten women's titles between them across the 2000s. More recently, Tete Dijana set the men's down run record of 5:13:58 in 2023, and Gerda Steyn rewrote the women's record books with times of 5:44:54 (down, 2023) and 5:49:46 (up, 2024). Over 300,000 runners have completed the Comrades since 1921, and in 2010 the race entered the Guinness World Records for the most finishers in an ultramarathon.

Runners have twelve hours to finish. Miss the cutoff by a single second and the gates close in your face -- a heartbreak that plays out on live television every year. Along the route, five intermediate cutoff points enforce the pace, forcing retirement on anyone who falls behind schedule. To even enter, a runner must have completed a qualifying marathon in under 4 hours and 50 minutes. Those who finish nine Comrades earn a yellow race number. Ten finishes bring a green number, permanently assigned, carried for every future race like a badge of belonging. Runners on their 20th, 30th, and 40th attempts receive their own designations. The medal hierarchy -- gold, silver, bronze, and the Vic Clapham medal for those finishing in the final hour -- creates a shared vocabulary among runners who may never meet but understand exactly what each color means.