For over 50 years there’s been just one constant at the Comrades start line: Dave Williams

Many tears are shed during an ultra marathon. Many tears are shed after an ultra marathon. However, Comrades is the only race that is able to open the waterworks before the starting gun even fires.

Dave Williams has been there to hear it all. From Max Trimborn’s iconic rooster crow (including the last time he performed it live in 1980) to the introduction of Chariots of Fire in 1985 to the addition of the National Anthem as democracy dawned in 1994 to the spontaneous eruption of Shosholoza the following year.

On June 14 we’ll get to hear Max Trimborn’s recorded rooster crow, the emotional strings of Chariots of Fire, the pride of Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika and the rousing chorus of Shosholoza. A lot of things have been added to the Comrades start over the years but one thing will be missing from the Comrades start line for the first time in over 50 years… Dave Williams.

Sadly Williams was not able to qualify this year but not for lack of trying. I thought I’d catch up with this Savages Athletics Club legend and one of the few men to have completed over 40 Comrades finishes.

Williams has run four marathons this year: Hillcrest, Best of the Best, Dolphin Coast and Durban International but struggled with “unprecedented weather conditions in terms of humidity” and higher than expected temperatures. “I lost it all in the second half” muses the philosophical Willams as he admits he was not getting enough rest between marathons, “After not qualifying at the first one I was running the next one too soon trying to get a qualifier without enough recovery in between.”

Injuring his hamstring whilst sliding down a hill during Westville AC’s cross-country Parlauf relay didn’t help matters either.

Asking about his favourite memories at Comrades produced an unlikely answer, “2013 – it was character building exercise.” The 2013 edition was faced with high temperatures and strong headwinds and almost half the starters (45%) failed to finish. One of those who did not make it under 12 hours was Dave Williams.

“That year I was going for my 40^th together with Alan Robb and the now late Dave Lowe from Westville. Three guys going for their 40^th in one year was unprecedented.” He recounts how Alan Robb sat down on a rock while going up Pollies and said he was going to bail but was somehow convinced to carry on by a crowd of supporters and that Dave Lowe cramped terribly but also somehow managed to finish.

Williams recalls, “I was told at top of Pollies that I’d missed the cutoff. However, I politely declined the invitation to get on the bailer bus, pointing out that the bus was pointing in the wrong direction. It was pointing towards Durban and I told them this is not my bus as I am going to Pietermaritzburg!” He crossed the finish line but returned home for the first time without a medal. However, he returned in 2014 and safely secured his quadruple laurel.

As time passes, Comrades finishes have been harder to come by. The Comrades logbook currently shows ‘David Williams: played 50, won 43’. The one that hurts the most is 2023. “I was a victim of the 10 minute Sherwood saga.” rues Williams.

READ MORE: Where did all the runners go? The Comrades cutoff debacle.

As for who is the greatest ever Comrade, “Bruce Fordyce followed by Alan Robb. They are guys I’ve come to know quite well. I used to just admire how Bruce won 9 times and the way he did it. Bruce left his mark on Comrades. Likewise with Alan Robb.”

I asked Williams for his advice for the Comrades class of 2026, “I would like to wish them all a memorable run and to finish within the goals that they’ve set themselves. If you’re not having a good run, persevere, work through bad patches and just know that quitting is not an option.”

During our conversation Williams reminisced about the days when he was seconded at the side of the road by his wife and her parents and then seeing his kids go from babies to adults whilst supporting their dad every year on his annual pilgrimage. He recollected, “I always stopped to take refreshments and would sit down. My kids always told me, ‘it’s time to go Dad!’ but I would make sure I made the most of the time when I saw them.”

His daughter Lauren ran back-to-back Comrades in 2018 and 2019. You can hear the pride in his voice when he says, “She did not have particularly easy runs and after collecting her back-to-back medal said, ‘That’s it!’”. His son Justin has “run a few races” but has not broached Comrades yet. [Justin, I did get the distinct impression that your dad is still hoping for a Comrades medal from his son! He might even have mentioned the “L” word (the one that rhyme with “daisy”) and then retracted it.]

I got in touch with Lauren who admitted that without her dad running Comrades for the first time in her lifespan, “I do feel a little lost this year – not really sure what I am doing on Sunday the 14 June. It has become a way of life to be on the Comrades route for my Dad and we have had many experiences over the years! The most recent being rather stressful as a seconder.”

Although father and daughter did not run together in 2018, Williams hatched a plan to lure Lauren back to the start line in 2019 for a back-to-back medal, “[After 2018] I had no intentions of running again. One was enough for me but one drive to PMB a few weeks later and my Dad asked if we could run together in 2019 and I was sold.”

Lauren secured a charity seeding so that they could start together, “I will never forget us running out of Durban and with him having his name in large and with his extensive number of finishes on his bib – it seemed like everyone wanted to talk to him and all I could think was please may everyone stop talking to him so we can save our energy and focus here.”

Williams told me he loves to “multitask” which in his book is running and talking at the same time. It sounds like he has truly mastered the skill, according to Lauren’s memory of her dad chatting to other runners on the 2019 Up run, “He loves a chat on a run so I knew he wasn’t going to stop (I think sometimes it can take a whole Regents 10km run to hear a story in its entirety)!”

Williams has another very impressive quadruple laurel – for 40 years he worked for the eThekwini municipality. After retiring, he got heavily involved in various Comrades subcommittees Savages AC activities. Another longtime Savages member John Ward says, “When Dave retired he flung himself into helping Savages on the committee, assisting in inter alia setting up cross country events, Savages’ annual race and taking the club gazebo to races. He continues to be a hands-on Savages stalwart.”

However, despite Williams’ five decades of perseverance on the Comrades route, Ward highlights an even more impressive feat of endurance – Williams drew the short straw and represents Savages at KZNA council meetings which are known to start in the early morning and end just before midnight, “Dave has the unenviable task of representing Savages at KZNA AGMs. He is one of a handful of KZNA members willing to take on KZNA bureaucracy and ask the hard questions.”

Whilst he won’t be wearing the Savages club kit that he’s started each of his 50 Comrades Marathon in, Williams will be overlooking the start as an invited VIP courtesy of the Comrades Marathon Association. He’s hoping to bring 90-year-old Kenny Craig (the first man to record 40 consecutive Comrades finishes) along as well if Kenny is up to an early morning outing. You can also look out for Williams along the route at the Savages seconding points in Drummond and Camperdown.

Perhaps the most important question to ask is, “What about next year?” Here Williams is resolute, “For the 100^th running I will be on the start line!” Williams pauses before providing further rationalisation, “Maybe this year I needed the rest in terms of running Comrades. It’s unlikely I would have finished Comrades under 12 hours this year. I need to work on the speed.”

And to that end he has already enlisted the help of Ray Pretorius, a local biokineticist. He told me that Pretorius is putting together a special custom program so that he can qualify early for the 100^th edition and then focus on the core training. And just when does Dave Williams start on this new special training program for Comrades 2027? “Tomorrow!”

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