Green Number Club

Cecil “Bill” Payn was 'n geharde Springbok-rugbyspeler, 'n oorlogsheld. Hy het vir baie jare vir Natal gespeel en in 1924 in het hy in twee toetswedstryde gespeel.

Hy het ook in die Tweede Wêreldoorlog gedien, waar hy die Militêre Medalje vir dapperheid ontvang het. Selfs as krygsgevangene het hy rugby in die kampe lewendig gehou deur wedstryde tussen Suid-Afrikaners en Nieu-Seelanders te organiseer (die sogenaamde “Stalag-toetse”).

Maar sy bekendste storie kom uit die Comrades-marathon van 1922. Na ‘n paar drankies is hy die aand oorreed om die marathon die volgende dag te hardloop. Hy het die wedloop in sy rugbystewels begin en steeds 'n ongelooflike 8ste plek behaal. Sy wedloop was allesbehalwe normaal. Hy het gestop vir spek en eiers, 'n hoenderkerrie met 'n ander hardloper gedeel, en selfs biere by 'n kroeg langs die pad gereël voordat hy verder gegaan het!

Asof dit nie genoeg was nie, het hy die heel volgende dag 'n rugbywedstryd gespeel en dit tenspyte daarvan dat sy voete vol blase omdat hy in rugby stewels gehardloop het.



Cecil “Bill” Payn was a tough Springbok rugby player, a war hero, and a man who loved his sport. He played for Natal for many years and played in two Test matches in 1924.

He also served in World War 2, where he was awarded the Military Medal for bravery. Even as a prisoner of war, he kept rugby alive in the camps, organising matches between South Africans and New Zealanders (the so-called “Stalag Tests”).

But his most famous story comes from the 1922 Comrades Marathon. The night before the race, after a few drinks, he was talked into running it. He started the race in his rugby boots and still finished an amazing 8th place.

His run was anything but normal. He stopped for bacon and eggs, shared a chicken curry with another runner, and even lined up beers at a pub along the way before carrying on!

And if that wasn’t enough, he played a rugby match the very next day, even though his feet were full of blisters from running in those

Our heros in the darkrooms, organizing the Comrades, with 20 000 runners, before and while it's on they run around that we can run

Heros of yesterday
Our own Frances Hayward

Flashback Friday🎞

Frances Hayward, the first woman to run and complete the race (unofficially), was asked what the road conditions were like when she ran the race in 1923. She said: “Well…the runners of today are spared many of the discomforts we endured. In 1923, there was a dust road between Maritzburg and Durban, the Durban tarmac ending at Toll Gate. As we jogged along, we became covered in the thick, heavy red dust”. It was reported that Frances Hayward had run the race in a business-like green gym costume.

Frances also recalled Arthur Newton’s astonishing win that day: “It was very chilly when we left Maritzburg at 6 am, but after we had been on the road a little while, the heat was killing. When I reached Camperdown, it was to be greeted by the news that Arthur Newton had already arrived at Lord’s Ground in Durban. He had arrived so early that there was nobody there to meet him.” Arthur Newton finished in 06:56:07 that year, the first sub-7-hour run.

Louis Massyn remembered
Liege Boulle been the 1st athlete to complete 10 Comrades Marathon's earning his Green Number Club #141 - Leige completed 39 ComradesMarathon 's

'Bill Payn, a Springbok rugby player ran the Comrades marathon in 1922 in rugby boots, stopped for a chicken curry in Hillcrest, drank beer in a Drummond hotel, accepted peach schnapps en route and enjoyed tea and cake with his family in Pietermaritzburg before finishing in 8th position. Payn played a club rugby match the next day.'

Find out more about the race’s beginnings here -

Ultra-marathon has a colourful history | Highway Mail It’s more than one hundred years since the first 34 athletes ran the inaugural Comrades Marathon. Find out more about the race’s beginnings.

At Schoeman se baadjie

They made history

https://www.facebook.com/100070349526845/posts/710265017995143/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v

Back in the Day Wednesday

On Friday 24 May 1935, 48 runners participated in the 15th Comrades Marathon.

One of them, W.J. (Bill) Cochrane managed to scoop the title when he finished the race in a time of 6:30:05. It was his 5th run and once he achieved his goal, he announced his retirement from the race. It was while he was in a prisoner-of-war camp during World War II, that he decided he wanted to win the Comrades one more time, which he did in 1946, when the race resumed after the war. After that, he never ran the Comrades Marathon again.

The good old days and tough men

https://highwaymail.co.za/468018/ultra-marathon-has-a-colourful-history/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1tlxt1mJxKbaqXGqfLbguf_xXPSwnWEbtfXG7zJ-92Wa935k-YJYF51EY_aem_VTUX2SgSmu63U-c-npm-cw

Ultra-marathon has a colourful history | Highway Mail It’s more than one hundred years since the first 34 athletes ran the inaugural Comrades Marathon. Find out more about the race’s beginnings.

Baie Welkom by Green Number Klub en geluk aan Gerda Steyn wat Sondag kwalifiseer het vir lidmaatskap vir 'n Groen Nommer. Gerda het drie wenne en vyf goue medaljes, so het dubbeld kwalifiseer.

Welcome to Gerda Steyn to Green Number Club and congratulations on your winning.
Gerda earned the Green Number doubly as she qualified with three wins and five golds

https://olympics.com/en/news/marathon-world-record-holder-kelvin-kiptum-dead-24-road-accident

Marathon world record holder Kelvin Kiptum dead at 24 The tragic news sends shock waves through the athletics world. The Kenyan who broke the world record of 2:00:35 at the 2023 Chicago Marathon, died alongside his coach in a fatal road accident.