Legendary Comrades ultra-marathon athlete, Bruce Fordyce was held up on Friday morning by armed men who robbed him of his running shoes and watch.
The attack occurred at 6am whilst he was on his early morning run in Westcliff, Johannesburg.
But Fordyce, 61,did not let the brutal assault on him deter him from his early morning training schedule.
He said as he was running, he noticed a car slowing down alongside him.
“I thought they wanted directions and walked towards the car. Two men inside the car then pointed guns at me. One got out and began kicking me. They took my takkies, which were old and smelled of old cheese, so they are more than welcome to them,” he joked.
He added that his attackers also took his watch, which was also old.
“They probably thought my Adidas takkies and watch were a lot more valuable,” he said.
Fordyce said he was more embarrased that he did not put up more of a fight.
“I think aside from a bruised ego, I am fine. They did take one of my gloves so I had a bit of a Michael Jackson look going on. They tugged at my shorts as well. I think they probably thought I had a cell phone with me. But I never run with valuables,” he said.
Fordyce said he managed to get home and put on another pair of running shoes and continue his training.
“My coach expected me to do a 10km run and when the robbery happened, I was only about five or six kms into my run. My coach, who is me, would not allow me to say I did a 10km run when I only did about half of that. So I fetched another pair of takkies and carried on. We cannot let the criminals win,” he said.
He added that his attackers did not recognise them and were merely opportunistic criminals looking for a target
Fordyce, is celebrated as South Africa’s greatest ultra marathon athlete, with a record nine Comrades Marathon and three London to Brighton Marathon wins. He has run the Comrades Marathon 30 times.
Daily News