ARTHUR’S SEAT
This is a niche cut into the bank of the cutting at the site of the
Wall of Honour and is reputed to have been a favourite resting spot
of the legendary Arthur Newton, 5 times winner of the Comrades
Marathon in the 1920’s.
Legend has it that runners who pay tribute to Arthur as they pass
by placing flowers in the niche and doffing their peak with the
greeting “Good morning Sir”, will enjoy a strong second
half of the race.
NEWTON'S NINE RULES OF TRAINING
1. Train frequently all year
round
2. Start gradually and train gently
3. Train first for distance (only later for speed)
4. Don’t set yourself a daily schedule (rather a weekly
one)
5. Don’t race in training and run time-trials only
infrequently
6. Specialise
7. Don’t over-train
8. Train the mind
9. Rest-up before the race
BACKGROUND
Arthur Francis Hamilton Newton
In 1901 Newton traveled to South
Africa to join his brother and worked as a teacher. After returning
to England in 1909, he decided to settle in South Africa
permanently and in 1911 acquired a farm in Natal. During World War
I Newton served in the Natal Light Horse as a dispatch rider. On
returning to his farm he found it in a state of neglect and after
some disagreements with the government decided to generate
publicity for his case by running the 1922 Comrades Marathon, which
had been first held the previous year.
Although he had run sporadically
when he was younger, Newton restarted his running career on 1
January 1922 at the age of 38. Just 20 weeks later, he competed in
his first Comrades Marathon as a publicity stunt. Newton believed
that a good performance would make him popular with the public, and
it gave him the opportunity to publicise what he perceived as
"gross injustices" being perpetrated by the South African
government in connection with his land dispute. His victory and
subsequent success surprised him and set him on a new career path
as a professional athlete and then as a writer. Newton also
dismissed the then-current ideas on long distance training and was
an early pioneer of the concept of high mileage training at
relatively slow speeds (later called long slow distance).
COMRADES MARATHON
The 1922 race was the first "up"
version of the race. Just before Camperdown, Newton took the lead
and won the race in a time of 8:40:00. The next year, 1923, he had
trained properly and won by 52 minutes in a time of 6:56:07,
beating the previous record by over two hours. Only by chance were
two race officials at the finish. They recorded the time of the
nearby post office clock. In 1924, an up year, he won by 75 minutes
in a time of 6:58:22. After this race he returned to England and
ran the London to Brighton course in 5:53:43, beating the previous
record by over an hour. When the London to Brighton race started as
an annual event in 1951 the trophy for the winner was called the
Arthur Newton Cup. In 1925 he lowered the Comrades record again
with a time of 6:24:54. His final victory in 1927 was with a time
of 6:40:56.
RHODESIA
Although Newton had gained
publicity for his running exploits, he did not receive the
compensation he thought he deserved and in 1925 decided to move to
Rhodesia. Lack of money meant he began the 770 mile trip on foot.
However, some newspapers gave him publicity and money was raised
for him. In Rhodesia he founded the Bulawayo Harriers and set
amateur records for 60 and 100 miles.
LATER RACES
In early 1928 Newton broke the
100-mile record on the Bath to London road in a time of 14:22:10.
Later that year he began competing as a professional and ran in
races in the United States, Canada and Britain. In his last race,
in 1934, he broke the Bath to London 100 mile record again with a
time of 14:06:00 at the age of 51. In retirement he wrote an
autobiography and several books on his training methods.
INTERESTING FACTS
In his running career that lasted
from May 1922 to June 1935 he held both the up and down Comrades
records, the London to Brighton record and the world 30, 35, 40,
50, 60 and 100 mile, and the world 24 hour running records. In this
time he ran 102 735 miles (165 403 km) in training.