Bruce “Digger” Hargreaves (S39)
Bruce was one of the original “Spartan Legends” and ran the first 43 Melbourne Marathons from 1978 to 2021. His sequence was finally broken when he required open-heart surgery a few weeks before the 2022 event. His best MM time of 2:57:30 was set in 1989 at the age of 36.
Impressive as his Melbourne Marathon history is, it is only a small part of his running record. He was equally passionate about the South African Comrades ultra marathon which he finished seven times, falling short of his ambition to achieve ten finishes and receive a number for life. Here is the story of his 2014 effort. From Wikipedia: He was the Australian Ambassador for the Comrades Marathon-A 90km road race in South Africa, the worlds largest Ultra Marathon from 2008 until 2018, and in 2018 he was appointed as one of the only 2 “Comrades Marathons Ambassadors at Large”, and also in 2018 he was awarded the prestigious “Spirit of Comrades” award.
When he moved to Mt Tamborine he ran at the local Parkrun and later became event director. Here is a 2018 podcast where Bruce discusses his MM history (starts at 12:45) and his Parkrun involvement (starting at 22:45).
He has recently been heavily involved in the organisation of the 2023 Port Moresby Marathon.
He has written articles for our newsletters here, here and here. Bruce was the headline speaker via Zoom from Queensland for the 2021 AGM. He was a committee member from 2007 to 2009.
Through his enthusiasm and energy he has helped countless runners, from those gingerly beginning their running journey through to those seeking an incremental improvement in their marathon time.
The photo at left above shows Jane Kuchins, first woman in 1979, running with Robert Hendy (S0390) in 1980. You can read Robert’s story about the run on page 3 of a newsletter. Sadly, Robert was unaware that he was in the company of Bruce.
Melbourne Marathon
He was one of the first Spartans to confirm their dedication with a tattoo.
The Legends
Since 1987 when 88 runners were recognised as the first Spartans, the number of runners who hadn’t missed any MMs had reduced to five by 2018. The five pictured below in 2019 were Bruce Hargreaves, David Foskey, Roger Weinstein, Wayne Thompson and John Dobson.
The photograph above was taken during the filming for an item on the Channel 7 news.
The Legends featured in this 2021 edition of Radio National’s Sporty program.
Bruce Hargreaves S0039
(Written in 1997)
Growing up in Victoria in the 1960s left few options for somebody too light to play Aussie Rules, so running was the go (tennis didn’t seem like a challenge).
It was track and field in the summer and cross country in winter. As life went on, study/family/work/injuries all got in the way of running but I still managed to run 20km or so a week. In 1978 I was working at Monash University where a group of us used to run 5km twice a week and play tennis as well (yes tennis really is a sport).
I was not up to date with the growth in Fun Runs and the only Marathons I had seen in Australia had been 15 and 20 starters with presentations 3 hours after the start – if you couldn’t run it in 3 hours, everyone had gone home when you finished.
So one day in October 1978 I was puzzled as to why and how a lunchtime running friend actually talked me into running the first Melbourne Marathon. In fact, the organisers talked two thousand other people into it as well. With six weeks warning we were very well prepared – we stepped up the mileage from 20km per week to 40km per week, and one day we actually ran 20km.
The race was from Frankston to Melbourne and all runners were transported to the start on special trains, but boy were we prepared. There was no way we were going to finish after everybody went home. We had a race plan to ensure that we finished in under 3 hours. Obviously we had a side bet of a carton on who would finish first; this was now a serious event!
We had just a little bit of trouble judging the pace in the first 5km and with our vast experience in distance running, even we knew that 17:30 was a little too fast, so we eased off a bit. At somewhere around the 15km mark, I dropped my partner; so the carton was safe. On we pushed to the halfway mark, where I achieved my 89:00 right on target.
We had a little trouble in the second half and went on to finish in 3:18. That is 3:18 for the second half! (i.e. 4:37 finish) Just beyond the halfway mark, for reasons I didn’t understand, my superbly trained body refused to move forward at anything but a slow jog/walk. No matter how much urging I gave it, it refused to proceed.
At around the 25km mark, my heart sank further as my training partner cruised past me and reclaimed the title to the carton. At around the 33km mark, to my surprise, my training partner tapped me on the shoulder. He declared that if I could walk to the finish, so could he, and we would share the carton. When I asked why he was behind me, he calmly stated, “Well, I was lying in the gutter at the last first aid stop and when I saw you, I wasn’t going to take defeat lying down.”
By this time all I wanted to see was the finish line, and as my partner now has a Ph.D, he was clearly of superior intellect, and had calculated that we were averaging between 4 and 5km per hour. This was a bit disappointing, because as bushwalkers we could average up to 6 to 7km per hour. The thought did cross our minds that it may be dark when we finished and everybody might have gone home. By the time we made the tree-lined St Kilda Road, the service lane looked like a retreat from a great battle with hundreds of runners reduced to a walk, limping like the walking wounded (which they were).
When we finally reached the finish line outside the Melbourne Town Hall we thought the pain was over, but no. We still couldn’t walk properly until the following Wednesday. Nobody told us about massage etc. While we were drinking that carton in Bourke Street, my partner declared “Never again,” and he hasn’t. Me, well I’ve chalked up about 65 marathons since then, all faster than my first.
The Melbourne Marathon has since had some highs and lows. In 1983 they had over 5,000 runners, and now they have 736 ‘ten year runners’ (called Spartans) and 31 ‘nineteen year runners’ (called Gold Spartans). The 20th Melbourne Marathon will be held on 19th October, 1997 which makes it the longest running major city marathon in Australia. Only Traralgon (Victoria) has had a longer continuous marathon record.
Posted on FB May 21 by Daughter Bonney
On Anzac Day he fell.
His heart finally gave up, too weak to continue the day.
He lay on the path alone.
Discovered by a passer-by, they began to save his life. Anxiously repeating the rhythm while the sirens blared.
His family rushed to be by his side but he lay lifeless while the doctor gave them the unbearable news.
He’s not likely to wake, inform all his loved ones for their final goodbyes.
The outpour of grief came from far and wide. Not Digger, not Bruce, not the tough little guy we know.
The funeral was organised, all plans put in place and then…
The bugger rallied.
Day 3 he opened his eyes. There but not there.
We rejoiced, we sang, we danced.
C’mon Bruce! Fight! Fight! Fight!
And fight he did.
It’s been nearly a month since he fell but seems like a year.
I have never been more grateful for my dad and all who he is. He is love, he is family, he is community, HE IS HOME.
Thank you to everyone for your support during this time ❤️