Ferdinand Andries le Grange (Ferdie; 26 August 1948 – October 2013) was a South African plastic surgeon and marathon runner who broke African records.

Early life

He was born in Molteno, Eastern Cape,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. His father was a farmer. After school, he studied Medicine at

Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch University ( af, Universiteit Stellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant ...

and

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( o ...

. He had a medical practise in Bedfordview

Germiston Germiston, also known as kwaDukathole, is a small city in the East Rand region of Gauteng, South Africa, administratively forming part of the City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality since the latter's establishment in 2000. It functions a ...

He married Kathleen de Villiers, an

anaesthetist Anesthesiology, anaesthesiology, or anaesthesia is the medical specialty concerned with the total perioperative care of patients before, during and after surgery. It encompasses anesthesia, intensive care medicine, critical emergency medicine ...

, and their children were Loné, Jean, Michelle and Ferdie, Jr.

Running career

In 1971 he was the first African runner to run a sub 2 hour 20 minutes marathon. He did it in a marathon in

Durbanville Durbanville is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa, part of the greater Cape Town metropolitan area. Durbanville is a semi-rural residential suburb on the north-eastern outskirts of the metropolis and is surrounded by farms prod ...

with a time of 2 hours 19 minutes. His personal best was the South African open marathon on 23 April 1974 when he ran 2 hours 12 minutes. He was the first runner in the world to run two sub 2 hours 20 minutes marathons in one week. On 24 January 1974 in an hour race, he was the first in Africa to run more than 20 km in an hour. This was done on a grass track in

Bellville, Western Cape Bellville is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is situated adjacent to the Koelberg Mountains and also the University of Western Cape where it has its own campus. Established It was founded as "12 Mile Post" (Afrikaa ...

. He broke

Abebe Bikila ''Shambel'' Abebe Bikila ( am, ሻምበል አበበ ቢቂላ; August 7, 1932 – October 25, 1973) was an Ethiopian marathon runner who was a back-to-back Olympic marathon champion. He is the first Ethiopian Olympic gold medalist, winnin ...

's record. He was the South African Marathon Champion in 1973 and 1974. Due to the

sporting boycott of South Africa during the apartheid era South Africa under apartheid was subjected to a variety of international boycotts, including on sporting contacts. There was some debate about whether the aim of the boycott was to oppose segregation in sport or apartheid in general, with the la ...

he never competed in the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

Retirement from running

He retired from running at 25 to pursue a medical career. He used to run from Cape Town to Bellville at 12 o’clock at night after work.Century of the marathon Riël Hauman Human & Rousseau 1996. Page 128 After his retirement from competitive running, he ran the

Comrades Marathon The Comrades Marathon is an ultramarathon of approximately which is run annually in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa between the cities of Durban and Pietermaritzburg. It is the world's largest and oldest ultramarathon race. The direc ...

and the

Two Oceans Marathon The Two Oceans Marathon is a 56 km / 35-mile ultramarathon and 21 km half-marathon held annually in Cape Town, South Africa on the Saturday of the Easter weekend. Known globally as "the world's most beautiful marathon",Hamlett, Alison ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Le Grange, Ferdie 1948 births 2013 deaths South African male marathon runners Stellenbosch University alumni