Bruce Fordyce

Bruce Noel Stevenson Fordyce (born 3 December 1955 in Hong Kong) is a South African marathon and ultramarathon athlete who was also active in opposing apartheid. He is best known for having won the South African Comrades Marathon a record nine times, of which eight wins were consecutive. He also won the London to Brighton Ultramarathon three years in a row. He is the former world record holder over 50 miles and the former world record holder over 100 km.

Early life and education Born in Hong Kong to Evan Noel and Nancy Ann (Née Stevenson), Fordyce moved with his family to Johannesburg when he was 13 years old. He completed his school career at Woodmead High School and subsequently attended the University of the Witwatersrand, His participation in international marathons has brought him to several archaeologically significant regions, most notably Jerusalem, where he competed in the Jerusalem Marathon and visited local archaeological sites. He has also been described as an enthusiastic birdwatcher, with a particular interest in African birdlife.

Comrades Marathon In 1977, when Fordyce first ran the Comrades Marathon, he placed 43rd out of 1,678 entries. He placed 14th in 1978, 3rd in 1979, 2nd in 1980, and was the winner for an unprecedented eight consecutive years from 1981 to 1988; he won it again in 1990.

World record holder Fordyce was the world record holder over 50 miles, when he covered the distance in 4hr 50min 21sec at the 1984 AMJA 50 Mile Ultramarathon in Chicago, IL, until the record was broken by Jim Walmsley on 5 May 2019. Fordyce holds the 50-mile record for the United States All Comers Race.

Political activism Fordyce was strongly anti-apartheid. On his first victory race in 1981 he wore a black armband to protest against the 20th anniversary celebrations of the apartheid republic attracting boos and even some rotten tomatoes thrown by a fellow runner. Fordyce has claimed this protest as "one of the proudest moments in my life". This is a collection of free-entry weekly 5k run events. There are now 210 parkrun events in South Africa as of 16 October 2023. Fordyce ran his 500th parkrun at Delta Park, Johannesburg, the first South African parkrun venue, on 14 October 2023.

Other honours In 2004, he was voted 64th in the Top 100 Great South Africans.

In 2007, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of the Witwatersrand.