Running News Daily

There might have been cheaters at the Comrades Marathon

An investigation into allegations of cheating at the recent Comrades Marathon is underway, the race organisers have announced.

The Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) had underlined in the build-up to the 2024 event which took place on 9 June, that there would be a zero-tolerance approach towards cheating.

Before the event, over 50 runners were prevented from taking part due to fraudulent entry submissions, some of which involved getting others to achieve the required qualifying time.

The 86km ultramarathon alternates from an ‘up’ route from Durban to Pietermaritzburg – as it was this year – to a ‘down’ version in reverse.

Known as the ‘Ultimate Human Race’, it is hugely popular, with hundreds of thousands of spectators lining the route, national TV coverage, high prestige and big prizemoney.

This year there were 18,884 starters – and 17,313 finishers.

Looking for ‘anomalies or inconsistencies’

But in a statement released on Thursday the CMA said: “The Office has received a number of tip-offs from concerned participants and spectators who have reported several instances of suspected cheating within the duration of the race.

“In addition, the CMA has continued to receive information from athletes and clubs regarding the submission of fraudulent qualifying information.

Ann Ashworth, the CMA Race & Operations Manager, stated that while she is aware of various social media posts allegedly exposing several athletes of cheating at the event, the CMA has yet to communicate the full and final results of its investigations to KwaZulu-Natal Athletics and has not yet publicly identified those athletes whom it suspects of cheating.

The statement continued: “We are currently working through the full set of electronic results provided to us by FinishTime with a view to identifying any anomalies or inconsistencies within the results.

“Our Office is also working through data which suggests that several athletes missed the non-disclosed (or secret) timing points along the route, the purpose of which was to identify runners who engaged in course cutting. All inconsistencies will then be compared to any photographic evidence available.”

Issue with first timing point

Ashworth has also indicated that the CMA is aware of a problem which occurred at the first timing point (at approximately 5km) and assures athletes that the absence of a timing reading at this particular point is not necessarily indicative of course cutting.

The statement concluded: “The CMA hopes to conclude its investigations over the next few days after which the names of all race day cheats will be provided to KwaZulu-Natal Athletics for disciplinary action.”

(06/20/2024) Views: 358 ⚡AMP

Comrades Marathon: Gerda Steyn Sets Course Record; Piet Wiersma Wins Men’s Race

At the 2024 Comrades Marathon, South African Gerda Steyn sets a course record in her third win while Dutchman Piet Wiersma gets his first victory.

At 5:30 a.m. on Sunday, June 9, in the raucous darkness of Durban, South Africa, more than 20,000 runners, powered by nerves, adrenaline, and the “Chariots of Fire” theme song, crossed the start line of the 2024 Comrades Marathon to take part in the oldest and largest ultramarathon in the world: nearly 86 kilometers of road running throughout the hills of South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province. It was the 97th running of the event, which has only missed four editions since World War I veteran Vic Clapham started it in 1921 to commemorate the lives of South African soldiers.

Two of the runners — Gerda Steyn, of South Africa but who lives in the United Arab Emirates, on the women’s side and Piet Wiersma of The Netherlands on the men’s — cemented their names in race lore by taking home wins, and sizable paydays, in their respective races. The race has a massive prize purse, with a total 4,092,000 Rand ($217,000) on the line.

Steyn, the defending champion, broke her own course record for the Up run direction by more than nine minutes for her third win at Comrades. She also holds the women’s course record for the Down run when the race is held in the opposite direction, which she set in 2023.

Wiersma, meanwhile, backed up his impressive Comrades debut last year — where he finished second only three seconds behind the winner — with his first win at the race.

The Comrades Marathon famously alternates the direction each year, and this year’s race, which was run in relatively ideal conditions with temperatures ranging from the mid-50s to low-70s Fahrenheit, was the 49th Up race, meaning runners began in the lower-altitude Durban and ended in the higher-altitude Pietermaritzburg. The race featured around 1,750 meters of elevation gain, with most of it during the first half of the race, when the course runs through three of its “Big Five” hills. The Up run, therefore, demands a smart, measured racing strategy.

For the race’s first half, Piet Wiersma (The Netherlands) seemed content to stay conservative and save his energy for the back half. A two-man pack of Jobo Khatoane (Lesotho), looking for his first Comrades finish, and Aleksei Beresnev (Russia), back for a second time after debuting inside the top 10 last year, were within a minute of each other at Drummond, around the halfway mark, with the next runner more than five minutes back and Wiersma sitting in 10th, almost nine-and-a-half minutes off the lead.

But then Wiersma dropped the hammer, increasing his pace to 3:37 per kilometer from 3:58 per kilometer to jump into the top five by the Cato Ridge checkpoint at 56.6 kilometers into the race. That seemingly set the tone for big moves for the race’s second half, where Beresnev was still holding the lead and followed by Degefa Yohannese Lafebo (Ethiopia). With this race, Lafebo was moving up in distance following two top-10 finishes at the Two Oceans Marathon, a 50k race.

 

South Africans Tete Dijana, the two-time defending champion, and Dan Moselakwe, a prior Comrades podium finisher, sat in third and fourth, respectively.

Wiersma continued to run strong and moved into the lead by Umlaas Road, 67.5k, passing Lafebo, and by Mkondeni at 79.1k, he had increased to nearly a minute. Behind him, Beresnev dropped off the pace, while Dijana couldn’t hang on, either. The pair would finish, but outside the top 10 this year.

Moselakwe took advantage of fading runners to move himself into second. Joseph Manyedi (South Africa), meanwhile, methodically moved his way up to finish in fourth, his eighth and best Comrades finish, while Andrew Davies (U.K.) jumped from 12th to fifth over the course of the second half of the race. This was Davies’ first Comrades finish.

At the finish line, Wiersma would stay clear of Moselakwe by 45 seconds and third-place finisher Lafebo by nearly three minutes.

(06/10/2024) Views: 556 ⚡AMP
by Robbie Harms

How to prepare for a marathon, according to official Comrades coach

John Perlman speaks with Lindsey Parry, Official Comrades Marathon Coach.

Running a marathon is a massive task, and far more goes into it than just the actual running.

In the final two days of a race, there are a few things a runner needs to do for the best outcome.

Eat at the right time:

Your biggest main meal leading up to the race should be two nights before the race.

The night before you should not eat anything too heavy.

Get your sleep:

The few nights before running a marathon you should get a full night’s sleep.

Many people will not sleep that well the night before, so Parry says you should be sure to rest well two or three nights before.

“Night two and night three, those are really the nights to try and get yourself a good night’s sleep.”

- Lindsey Parry, Official Comrades Marathon Coach

Make a realistic race plan:

Before you start running you should look at what you have done with previous races or training, and plan accordingly.

This year the first 50km have a significant amount of climbing, so you should be conservative in this time.

Stay positive:

It can be easy to get overwhelmed by bad thoughts, especially if you have recently had a bad run.

Parry says you should just enjoy the day for what it is and focus on the run ahead.

(06/07/2024) Views: 448 ⚡AMP
by Keely Goodall

Husband and wife Mudzinganyama, Tshuma aim to ‘Givemore’ at Comrades Marathon

While the Comrades Marathon has produced sibling champions in the past, there is yet to be husband-and-wife winners of the Ultimate Human Race.

Russian twin sisters Elena and Olesya Nurgalieva dominated the race in the early 2000s, with the former winning the race eight times, while the latter was victorious just once.

South African brothers Andrew (2001) and Gift Kelehe (2015) are the other siblings to have conquered the about-90km race run between Durban and Pietermaritzburg.

This year’s race will see a married couple making their debut, with the husband and wife sure to start among the contenders.

Last year’s Two Oceans Marathon champion Givemore Mudzinganyama, who was third in this year’s edition, and his wife Nobuhle Tshuma – fourth in the Two Oceans in 2023 – will line up at the Durban City Hall on Sunday morning intent on making history.

The couple that runs for Entsika Athletics Club are confident of getting into the top-10 gold medal positions.

But being the ambitious athletes they are, they will have victory in mind when the starting gun sends the runners off towards Scottsville Racecourse.

Somewhat opposites, as most couples tend to be, Tshuma is very extroverted and outspoken, while Mudzinganyama is somewhat shy – although not on the road.

(06/06/2024) Views: 552 ⚡AMP
by Matshelane Mamabolo MERCURY SPORT Husband and wife Mudzinganyama, Tshuma aim to ‘Givemore’ at Comrades Marathon

Relief for Comrades Marathon runners

The 97th Comrades Marathon — an up run — will be held over 85,91 km between Durban and Pietermaritzburg on June 9.

Runners will feel some relief after receiving a bit of respite from Comrades Marathon organizers, with another adjustment being made to the cut-off times for next week’s ultra-marathon in KwaZulu-Natal.

With cut-off times having caused some controversy after runners were alleged to have been taken off the course earlier than necessary at last year’s race, this latest move announced yesterday would give participants another 10 minutes to reach the last cut-off before the finish.

The cut-off at the 79,1-km mark, at the top of the notorious Polly Shortts climb, had been shifted from 11 hours 10 minutes (11:10:00) to 11:20:00, the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) confirmed.

According to organizers, this was “in response to runner requests and ongoing efforts to ensure that participants have the best possible chance of finishing this year’s race”.

This latest announcement followed a decision by the CMA earlier this month to scrap the first cut-off point, at St Johns Avenue in Pinetown, reducing the total cut-off points to five, excluding the finish. Cut-off times were also revised for Winston Park and the halfway point at Drummond.

The 97th Comrades Marathon — an up run — will be held over 85,91 km between Durban and Pietermaritzburg on June 9.

Meanwhile, since 2015, the CMA has been awarding “Winners Jackets” to male and female winners of the race.

The year 2016 saw the retrospective awarding of Winners Jackets to three previous winners at the official Comrades race day prizegiving ceremony; with this becoming a celebratory facet to race week festivities until all surviving former Comrades Marathon winners have been honored with their very own Winners Jackets.

Two remarkable individuals will receive the grand acknowledgement at this year’s Comrades Champions Prizegiving Breakfast on Monday, June 10.

They are Rae Bischoff and Sipho Ngomane, both of whom in their own right have made their mark on The Ultimate Human Race.

In 1998 Bischoff made South Africa proud when she took the women’s title, a long break since 1993, when fellow South African Tilda Tearle was crowned the women’s champion.

Bischoff, a veteran contender during that up run, had Valentina Liakhova close on her heels, with a mere 19 seconds between them. But Bischoff managed to cross the finish line in 6:38:57, taking first position.

Ngomane ran his first Comrades Marathon in 2003. In 2005 — a down run — he surprised the world when he won in 5:27:11, with Oleg Kharitonov close behind.

What made the victory even sweeter is that Ngomane had to run in borrowed shoes after his had been stolen. He was only 23 at the time when he claimed the victory.

Comrades Marathon cut-off times:

Winston Park (Caltex Garage) – 29,6 km in, clock time 4:45:00

Drummond (Halfway) – 42,6 km in, clock time 6:20:00

Cato Ridge (N3 Subway) – 56,6 km in, clock time 8:10:00

Umlaas Road – 67,5 km in, clock time 9:40:00

Mkondeni (Top of Polly Shortts) – 79,1 km in, clock time 11:20:00

Finish line – 85,91 km in, clock time 12:00:00.

(05/30/2024) Views: 384 ⚡AMP
by The Witness

81-year-old bricklayer becomes Comrades Marathon’s oldest finisher

An 81-year-old bricklayer has become the oldest person to complete South Africa’s storied Comrades Marathon, finishing this year’s 87.7-km run from Pietermaritzburg to Durban in 9:26:10.

Sunday’s history-making run by Johannes Mosehla, who hails from the South African city of Polokwane, marked the 10th time the speedy senior has completed the Comrades Marathon, the world’s largest ultra-marathon. According to comments Mosehla made at Monday’s awards breakfast at Durban’s Elangeni Hotel on Monday, this year’s Comrades won’t be his last.

“I feel strong,” South Africa’s news24 reported Mosehla as saying. “I could run it again!” he added, confirming that he plans to return to Comrades in 2024.

He told those at the breakfast that there are no shortcuts to becoming Comrades’ oldest finisher: “My secret is to train. You can’t win without training,” said Mosehla, who has been running since 1963 and continues to train three times a week, covering distances from five to 32 km.

Comrades alternates between the “down” course, which was run this year and is so-named for its relative descent in elevation, and the “up” course, which begins in Durban and ends in Pietermaritzburg.

Noting he was proud to pull off his record-breaking effort “for the whole country,” Mosehla said he hopes his run sends the message that people “must not look for a number or age. I am 81, but I must not look at that number. I must be controlled by my body. When I am still strong, I must not look at my age.”

Mosehla’s run broke the decades-old record set by Comrades legend Wally Hayward, who at age 80 crossed the finish line of the 1989 Comrades Marathon less than two minutes before the 11-hour cutoff time.

Hawyard’s wasn’t the only record to fall at Sunday’s race. Last year’s winner, Tete Dijana of Rustenburg, South Africa, defended his Comrades crown in 5:13:58, shaving more than four minutes off the “down” record set by David Gatebe in 2016.

Gerda Steyn ran this year’s course in 5:44:56, breaking the women’s “down” record set by fellow South African runner Frith van der Merwe in 1989 by nearly 10 minutes.

(06/13/2023) Views: 878 ⚡AMP
by Paul Baswick

RECORD-BREAKING WINS FOR TETE DIJANA AND GERDA STEYN AT 2023 COMRADES MARATHON

Dijana stripped more than four minutes off David Gatebe’s best time of 5:18:19, in 2019, while Steyn broke a 1989 record which was held by Frith van der Merwe.

Tete Dijana won the Comrades Marathon for the second consecutive year, with a record-breaking time of 5 hours, 13 minutes, and 58 seconds.

Dijana, who hails from the North West stripped more than four minutes off David Gatebe’s best time of 5:18:19, in 2019.

Meanwhile, Gerda Steyn won the women’s race of the 96th edition of the marathon, in a time of 5:44:56.

The Two Oceans winner also broke the down-run record, which was previously held by Frith van der Merwe in 1989 at a time of 5:54:43.

This year’s race was a downhill run from Pietermaritzburg to Durban, with about 17 000 runners taking part in the 87km race.

The Netherlands’ Piet Wiersma came in second, with Edward Mothibi taking the third spot in the men’s race, while Adele Broodryk came in second in the women’s race, with Carla Monilaro clinching the third.  Prize money was awarded to the first ten men and women totaling $160,141US. 

(06/11/2023) Views: 775 ⚡AMP

Professional triathlete Sika Henry will compete at Comrades Marathon

The pro triathlete believes she may have found a new sweet spot with ultra distances.

Sika Henry has never shied away from new challenges. After spending several years working to qualify for her pro card and becoming the first Black American woman to do so in May 2021, she shifted toward a new focus of ultramarathons.

Henry’s first was the 2021 JFK 50 Mile in Maryland, where she finished as the second overall woman. Nearly a year later, after deciding to take a break from triathlon, she set a record of 8:34:20 with her win at the Dismal Swamp 100K in Chesapeake, Virginia.

It seems the endurance built from triathlons—with its back-to-back-to-back swim, cycle, and run—work better for Henry than a straight-up marathon.

“I think I’m more mentally strong and can endure a lot for a really long period of time, which I think I developed from triathlon,” Henry tells Runner’s World.

Henry’s success at Dismal Swamp set the stage for her next ultramarathon endeavor: the Comrades Marathon, a 90-kilometer race and the world’s oldest ultramarathon in South Africa, taking place on June 11. (The race course, which alternates between Durban and Pietermaritzburg each year, will be run “down” this year.) Henry will be racing as an elite with the Durban-based Phantane Athletics Club, a partnership that came after she met some athletes at last year’s Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. In addition to the fact that the club will provide her with bottle and fluid support at the race, Henry was also enthused about representing them after learning about how they work to identify talent and give back to underprivileged athletes in South Africa.

Henry’s buildup for Comrades included the Dismal Swamp 100K and an early 2023 marathon at Houston. Next up was the Boston Marathon, where she received a special invitation to race as part of a team along with Alisa Harvey, Ingrid Walters, and Shawanna White to represent Marilyn Bevans, who is known as a pioneer for women’s distance running as the first Black American woman to have broken 3 hours in the marathon.

“[Bevans] has been a bit of an idol of mine for quite some time—one of the reasons why I chased a sub-3-hour marathon was to be part of ‘The List’ [of Black American women who have hit the milestone],” Henry says. “So to come back years later and have all these other races and everything under my belt, it was an honor to get to represent her.”

Henry ended up finishing Boston in 3:08:30 after going in with the plan to use the race as a training run for Comrades by holding a 7:15 to 7:30 pace. Henry found that she was nailing it until she hit mile 21, where Pioneers Run Crew and TrailBlazHers Run Co. were stationed. Henry went on to run the last miles at 6:30- to 6:40 pace, negative-splitting the race by 3 minutes.

(06/08/2023) Views: 677 ⚡AMP
by Emilia Benton

Tete Dijana looks to defend his crown at Comrades Marathon

The 2023 Comrades Marathon is nearly upon us, with thousands preparing to take on the down route from Pietermaritzburg to Durban.

This year’s race has an official race distance of 87.7km, as competitors race for victory in a number of prize categories – the men and women’s winners earning over €20,000.

The men’s field this year features a number of past winners – as does the women’s – and promises to be an exciting race from start to finish.

Dijana aims to crown Nedbank again

Last year saw five of the top seven finishers all come from the Nedbank running club, but it was Tete Dijana who proved chief amongst them.

He won last year’s race in a time of 5:30:38, with clubmate and 2019 winner Edward Mothibi three minutes behind him and Dan Matshailwe, another Nedbank runner, a further three minutes behind Mothibi.

Expect all those names to feature near the top three, with Nedbank set to work together once more to assert dominance over South Africa’s most famous ultra.

Perhaps the chief non-Nedbank competitor will be 2018 winner Bongmusa Mthembu. Fourth last year, he was the fastest non-Nedbank runner and has set himself more preparation time for the race this year, competing in the Om Die Dam 50km, which he won in 2:56:33.

He is a three time-winner at the Comrades Marathon, his first in 2014 when he was registered with Nedbank, and his other two coming in back-to-back wins in 2017 and 2018 for his current team Arthur Ford.

International talent

The last non-South African to win the race was Stephen Muzhingi, the Zimbabwean taking three titles in a row between 2009 and 2011, and it seems a tall order to expect anyone other than local runners to take the title.

But regardless, there are those who will be competing. British runner Shane Cliffe has finishers in the Lakes in a Day and The Grand Tour of Skiddaw to his name.

There’s also Simon Brown, who has run the Marathon des Sables and qualified for the cancelled Western States 100 in 2020, and experienced runner and coach Ian Sharman.

(06/07/2023) Views: 737 ⚡AMP
by Olly Green

About 25 athletes disqualified from Comrades Marathon

At least 25 athletes have been disqualified from the upcoming Comrades Marathon for submitting false information.  

Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) director Rowyn James said the athletes would be suspended from entering the 2024 and 2025 races as a sanction. 

“They have been disqualified from this Sunday’s 96thComrades Marathon after it was found that they had supplied false qualifying information,” said James. 

James said the cheating runners are tarnishing the reputation of the sport. 

“Runners found to have been cheating in any way – be it via submitting false qualifying details or in the race itself – are tarnishing the reputation of the sport and the Comrades Marathon, as well as disrespecting fellow athletes,” he said. 

In this light  the CMA has announced the suspension of these 25 entrants who are members of various clubs, including Phuma KZN AC, Protea Striders, Save Orion AC, Sasolburg AC, Celtic Harriers, Chillie Running Club CG, Chiltern AC, Collegians Harriers, Diepkloof AC, Irene Athletics Club, Jozi X Training, Run Walk For Life NWN, Run Zone AC, SAPG AC, Sunward Striders AC, Team Vitality Club KZN, Thorn Tree Striders, Top Runner AC and Woodview AC.  

“These transgressors will not be permitted to participate in the 2023 Comrades Marathon and the CMA has also notified the respective athletes and their running clubs management of the disqualifications. 

“It is incumbent upon every athlete to honor the ethical code and ethos of the sport. We promote fair sport and to this end are continuing with investigations into other alleged transgressors, the outcome of which will be announced in due course,” he explained. 

(06/05/2023) Views: 775 ⚡AMP
by Koena Mashale

‘We Are Here Because of Him’: The Runner Who Defied Apartheid

In the dying days of South Africa’s apartheid regime, pioneering Black runners helped transform the Comrades Marathon into the race it is today, one that reflects the country around it.

On a balmy Sunday morning in late August, Kgadimonyane Hoseah Tjale stood below a stadium full of roaring fans on the finish line of the Comrades ultramarathon, clutching a small air horn.

He had been here before. In the 1980s and early 1990s, Tjale racked up four podium finishes at the Comrades, a 56-mile race between the South African cities of Pietermaritzburg and Durban. Today, it is the largest ultramarathon in the world, attracting a field of up to 20,000 runners, throngs of spectators and millions of live television viewers.

The story of how the Comrades became the race it is today is bound up in the story of Tjale and other pioneering Black runners of his generation. In the dying days of South Africa’s apartheid regime, they helped transform the race from a poky, amateur affair into an enormous event that looks much like the country around it.

They did so from one of the most uneven playing fields in the modern world.

Back at the race for the first time in 29 years, Tjale marveled as the top finishers sprinted past him. In his days, nearly every top runner was white. Now, all the top men were Black, wearing the jerseys of big corporate running clubs that paid for them to attend training camps. The 2022 men’s race winner, a university security guard named Tete Dijana, earned around $42,000 in prize money and bonuses. It was equivalent to about a decade of his salary.

“There was none of that in our times,” said Tjale, a retired delivery driver who was living in a shack north of Johannesburg when he ran his final Comrades race in 1993, when the race did not offer a cash prize.

(First photo) The start of the Comrades Marathon at the Pietermaritzburg City Hall. Credit...Rogan Ward for The New York Times

Tjale had been invited back by the Comrades’ organizers to sound a horn marking the cutoff for a special medal given to runners who finish in less than six hours. In the car from the airport two days before, Tjale asked one of them why they had invited him. 

Tjale had been invited back by the Comrades’ organizers to sound a horn marking the cutoff for a special medal given to runners who finish in less than six hours. In the car from the airport two days before, Tjale asked one of them why they had invited him. He’d never won the race, after all.

But for Comrades runners, the reason was obvious.

“We are here because of him,” said Freddie Wilson, a runner from Johannesburg, as he waited to take a photograph with Tjale at the race expo. His voice shook with emotion.

Like many Black South Africans, Wilson grew up watching Tjale on TV. His family didn’t have a television, but on Comrades Sunday they would crowd with others in their neighborhood into the lounge of a family who did and spend the entire day watching the race.

Wearing a bucket hat and running with a distinctive, lopsided gait, Tjale was a revelation in the front pack. From inside a country whose government was purpose-built to stifle the ambitions of Black South Africans, here was a Black man doing something audaciously ambitious, for the whole country to see.

(Third photo) Spectators running with Tjale in a Comrades Marathon during the 1980s.Credit...The Comrades Marathon Association

“He was our great,” Sello Mokone, who has run the Comrades 18 times, said. “The moment we saw a Black guy doing this, we knew we could do it too.”

At his peak, Tjale could run 56 miles at a pace of just over six minutes a mile. He racked up dozens of wins at ultramarathons, including at South Africa’s other famous ultra, the 35-mile Two Oceans. Twice, he almost defeated the Comrades’ white folk hero, a floppy-haired blond man named Bruce Fordyce, who won the race nine times between 1981 and 1990.

Bob de la Motte, a white runner who finished second to Fordyce three times, said that Tjale “was the better athlete.”

But while Fordyce focused full-time on the Comrades, living off money from speaking gigs and corporate sponsorships, Tjale worked as a delivery driver, running 15 miles from the crowded workers’ hostel where he lived to his job. On weekends, he ran every local race he could find, from 10 kilometers to 100 kilometers (6.2 miles to 62.1 miles), for prize money to supplement his income.

“He was lucky,” Tjale said of their rivalry.

Tjale grew up in the 1960s in a rural area near the city of Polokwane, formerly known as Pietersburg. He dropped out of school after eighth grade. A few years later, he moved to Johannesburg to work as a live-in gardener for a white family. There, he clipped hedges during the day and washed the family’s dishes after dinner. In between, sometimes, he went for a jog.

In the late 1970s, his running caught the attention of his employer, who helped him buy a pair of sneakers and join a running club. He began entering races, and soon, winning.

It was an auspicious moment to take up distance running. At the time, South Africa was subject to widespread international sports boycotts, which kept the country out of most major events. The nation was desperate to get back in, and in the mid-1970s, the apartheid government announced it would desegregate a minor sport, running.

Amid a global boom in running, entries at races like the Comrades began to tick upward. And South Africa’s single state-run TV station began broadcasting the Comrades live in the early 1980s. Millions watched Black runners like Tjale and white competitors like Fordyce share bottles of water and sling their arms over one another at the finish line.

“In the Comrades, everyone needed help at some point, and people always gave it,” said Poobie Naidoo, another elite South African distance runner from the 1980s, who is of Indian heritage.

But the moment runners like Tjale and Naidoo stepped off the course, they returned to an apartheid reality. In 1979, not long after his first Comrades, Tjale was arrested on his way to work for not having documents showing he was allowed to be in a white part of the city. He spent a night in jail.

“On the road was the only place I sometimes felt like apartheid wasn’t there,” Tjale said.

In 1989, both Tjale and Fordyce participated in a 100-kilometer world championship. Because of the timing, Fordyce skipped the Comrades, and Tjale ran it on tired legs. Another runner, Sam Tshabalala, became the race’s first Black champion. Tjale, meanwhile, ran his final Comrades in 1993, quietly finishing 51st.

In 2016, Tjale, a reserved man with an easy laugh, retired to a 20-acre farm he bought near Polokwane. It was one of the first times since he married in the 1970s that he and his wife had been able to live together, and they spent quiet evenings on their couch cracking jokes and watching soap operas.

He didn’t think much more of the Comrades, besides occasionally turning down invites to events the race hosted. “I was done with that thing,” he said simply.

But this year, a Comrades Marathon Association board member named Isaac Ngwenya called with a plea. Would Tjale come and let himself be honored.  He agreed and last weekend boarded a plane for Durban.

Tjale arrived to a race radically transformed from the one he left. At the Comrades expo, thousands of runners — most of them Black — milled around, trading training stories. The night before the race, more than 300 people slept in the Pietermaritzburg Y.M.C.A., where race organizers put up entrants who could not afford accommodation.

“It’s something I can show my son, and myself — that I did this thing,” said Cynthia Smith, a security guard, as she stretched out on her foam mattress.

On the start line at Pietermaritzburg City Hall the next morning, more than 13,000 runners sang an old migrant laborers’ song called Shosholoza, whose title means “go forward.” The gun popped, and they surged into the winter morning.

“It’s like living your entire life in a single day,” Tommy Neitski, a 42-time finisher, said of the race’s mass appeal. It’s also like seeing all of South Africa in a day, on a course that winds its way past shacks and boutique hotels, sugar cane fields and gritty industrial towns.

Tjale arrived at the finish line at Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium to sound the six-hour horn. Waiting in a V.I.P. lounge, he ran into Jetman Msuthu-Siyephu, winner of the 1992 race. They spent the morning trading memories.

As the day wore on, the two men watched the salt-streaked runners pour in by the thousands, dissolving in joy and exhaustion as they stumbled over the finish line. Tjale couldn’t stop smiling.

“When we go,” he said to Msuthu-Siyephu, “we will have left something for this world.”

(09/04/2022) Views: 1,069 ⚡AMP
by Ryan Lenora Brown (New York Times)

America’s Camille Herron finished sixth at the Comrades Marathon on August 27

"Oh Comrades Marathon you were magical!  Thank you everyone for making us feel like rockstars out there. I’m proud to finish 6th this time and another top 10 finish. It was an honor to be here again and share the road with you all.  Enjoy the moment for all your hard work," posted Camille Herron.  

Camille Herron is an American ultramarathon runner. She is the first and only athlete to win all three of the International Association of Ultrarunners' 50K, 100K, and 24 Hour World Championships.

She won the 2017 Comrades Marathon and holds several World Record times at ultramarathon distances, along with the Guinness World Record for the fastest marathon in a superhero costume.

In November 2017, she broke Ann Trason's 100-mile Road World Record by over an hour in 12:42:40.  She broke her 12-Hour and 100 Mile World Records in February 2022 at the Jackpot 100/US Championship, winning the race outright and beating all of the men.

In April 2022, she became the youngest woman to reach 100,000 lifetime miles.  She is the first and only woman to run under 13 hours for 100 miles, exceed 150 km for 12-Hours, and to reach 270 km for 24Hrs.

(08/29/2022) Views: 1,112 ⚡AMP

Russian Runner Alexandra Morozova Wins Women's 2022 Comrades Marathon Despite Controversy

Alexandra Morozova put a sideshow aside to emerge victorious in the 2022 Comrades Marathon today.

The Russian runner finished the grueling race in a time of 06:17:46. 

As was reported by ENCA, she had been barred from participating in the even by the organizers, who had been instructed to do so by Athletics South Africa acting on a recommendation by World Athletics. Russia is currently experiencing isolation from the world of sports following the fallout from the country's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

However, EWN reported that she launched an interdict with the Pietermaritzburg High Court to challenge her barring, which turned out to be a successful one for her.

Morozova said after the win:

"It was amazing. All of my dreams came true today. It was the most difficult marathon of my career. I'm happy to be here to achieve this win. It was my turn this year.

"Thank you so much to the citizens of South Africa for the warm greetings. It was so special to run into the stadium and feel this warmth from the crowd.

Thank you so much for the opportunity." 

EWN also added that she will have to return to the court in November to find out if she will receive her prize money or not.

(08/29/2022) Views: 1,008 ⚡AMP
by Keba Mothoagae

South Africa’s Tete Dijana Storms to Victory in the 2022 Edition of Comrades Marathon

Tete Dijana won the Comrades Marathon from Pietermaritzburg to Durban ahead of his teammate Former champion Bongamusa Mthembu took fourth place and broke the Nedbank Running Club's dominance Nedbank Running Club had five athletes in the top 10 of the Comrades Marathon, including the top three 

South Africa’s Tete Dijana has won the 2022 edition of the Comrades Marathon. The Nedbank runner stormed to victory, beating his teammate and defending champion, Edward Mothibi.

The duo were neck and neck with not too long to go before Dijana took control of the race and never looked back. Dijana, a security guard from the North West, finished the race in 5:30:38 while Mothibi finished in 5:33:46. 

(08/27/2022) Views: 824 ⚡AMP

2022 Comrades entry process opens

Entries for the 95th Comrades Marathon to be held in August open today Wednesday, March 23, 2022.

This will be the first entry window period and runs until March 31, 2022. During this window period, only those entrants who had successfully entered the 2020 Comrades Marathon will be able to enter, be they South Africa, Rest of Africa or International.

The entry fee for South African athletes will be discounted from R1200 to R1000 in the first entry window period, as per the CMA’s commitment when the 2020 race was cancelled. Rest of Africa and International entrants in the 2020 Comrades Marathon had their entries deferred to either the 2022 or 2023 race; and will therefore not pay an entry fee.

During the second entry window period, from April 20 to  May 16, 2022, all other athletes will be allowed to enter. Entry is free to all runners who have completed the Comrades Marathon 25 times or more.

This second entry window period will not apply should the entry cap of 15,000 entries have been reached during the first entry window period.

CMA Race Director, Rowyn James says, “We have exciting plans in place for this year’s Down Run which will finish at the internationally acclaimed Moses Mabhida Stadium for the second time. Qualifying for the 2022 Comrades Marathon is applicable as of September 1, 2021 till July 12, 2022. The qualifying criteria for this year’s Comrades Marathon remains unchanged requiring completion of a standard 42.2km marathon in under 4 hours and 50 minutes, or a 56km ultra-marathon in under 6 hours and 45 minutes.”

The 95th Comrades Marathon will be the 47th Down Run on Sunday, August 28, 2022, starting at the Pietermaritzburg City Hall at 05h30 and ending 12 hours later at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, covering a 90.2km distance.

(03/23/2022) Views: 1,033 ⚡AMP

2000 entries in for Comrades Centenary virtual event

Nearly 2000 participants have signed up for the Comrades Marathon Association’s (CMA) virtual event, the Comrades Centenary Hope Challenge, since being launched two weeks ago.

With two consecutive editions of the traditional Comrades Marathon having been cancelled, owing to Covid-19, runners the world over will have the opportunity of joining in the celebratory spirit of the Comrades Marathon Centenary via its 2nd virtual event in the race’s 100-year long history.

Come Sunday, 13 June 2021, runners and their families will be able to participate from any time between 00:01am and 23:59pm on the actual challenge date, within their local time zone globally.

The Comrades Centenary Hope Challenge will comprise 5 distances, being a 5km, 10km, 21.1km, 45km and 90km which will all be run virtually, meaning that athletes get to run their own race, along their select route anywhere in the world.

For more information on the Comrades Centenary Hope Challenge and to enter, please click through to www.comrades.com

The campaign slogan for the Comrades Centenary Hope Challenge is ‘Ithemba – Hope Is’, which aims to contextualise each runner’s hopes, what the feeling means to them and to further inspire other athletes to dig deep and discover their own hopes and dreams for a better future and the new normal in a world ravaged by Covid-19.

(04/08/2021) Views: 1,102 ⚡AMP

Entries for Comrades Marathon virtual race open

The world’s greatest ultramarathon is all set to stage the world’s greatest virtual event with runners from around the globe invited to participate on Sunday, 14 June 2020 with FREE entry to all South African runners who entered the 2020 Comrades Marathon.

The Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) last month launched its one and only officially sanctioned virtual race, ‘Race the Comrades Legends’ which promises to be The Ultimate Virtual Race.

GET A REAL MEDAL:

Participants who sign up for and complete the ‘Race The Comrades Legends’ are guaranteed a real finishers medal, together with the bragging rights of having completed the very first virtual event hosted by the CMA.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE:

It may seem new age to traditional Comrades Marathon runners but ‘Race the Comrades Legends’ is a great option for runners who for months have done training runs in isolation and no longer feel part of a close-knit running community.  The ‘Race the Comrades Legends’ will provide a platform to engage with other runners throughout South Africa and the rest of the world as well as opportunity for family members to participate in the action, all with the reassurance of safety and convenience, while here in South Africa doing so within the constraints of the government’s National Lockdown regulations.

RACE AGAINST THE LEGENDS:

The CMA’s ‘Race The Comrades Legends’ is a running concept based on the stories of the greatest Comrades Legends in history. The official Comrades Marathon website will include an online functionality where runners can virtually compete, run with and compare with each other and the likes of Bruce Fordyce, Frith van der Merwe, Samuel Tshabalala and many others; where each participant creates their own personal story and on completion is able to earn a real medal.

CHOOSE YOUR DISTANCE - 5, 10, 21, 45 OR 90KM:

By creating an international virtual event with great public focus, based on a series of distances that various running legends have defined in their time, from the 5km to the marathon as well as the usual Comrades Marathon ultra, the CMA has effectively created a virtual mass-participation event for everyone to be a part of.

All that runners need to do is go to the Comrades website; register for ‘Race The Comrades Legends’; select their distance of 5km, 10km, 21km, 45km or 90km.

ENTER ONLINE:

The cost is R150 for South African runners and $25 for foreign athletes. 

(03/26/2021) Views: 1,243 ⚡AMP

Comrades Marathon created a Wall of Honor to commemorate the achievements of the Comrades runners

Organizers of the Comrades Marathon created a “Wall of Honor” back in 1993 as a permanent landmark to commemorate the achievements of the Comrades runners who covered the epic distance between Durban and Pietermaritzburg.

Building the Wall began in 1993 with plaques being available for purchase since 1994. It is constructed from interlocking blocks such as those commonly used for retaining walls. Runners who have successfully completed the Comrades Marathon can acquire their own building blocks to last forever. These are mounted on an attractive badge, which records the name, start number and personal status of the runner, which can be updated in later years.

The plaques are bought by runners, family members or friends on their behalf in order to give them away on special birthdays, anniversaries, Comrades milestones or other occasions. The Wall of Honor memorial pads cost ZAR 550 (EUR 30) per pad. This includes the block, the plaque and the engraving as well as the maintenance and care of the block and the site for posterity.

The wall is situated close to the halfway mark on the Comrades route, just outside Drummond. On a down run it would be on the left as you make your way through the valley of a Thousand Hills.

The stretch of road beside which the Wall of Honor is located is on the municipal boundary alongside PheZulu Game Private Park and has the potential to be extended for many years to come. It forms a retaining wall which now stretches over 200m long. Covered with green and yellow Comrades plaques there are now over 6000 of them, belonging runners who have successfully completed the Comrades at least once. They have placed their names on this wall to commemorate their race achievements. Runners who have earned their Permanent number (run Comrades more than 10 times) have a green plaque while those who have run less than 10 have a yellow plaque.

A runner who already has a plaque on the wall and has achieved their green number, double, triple or quadruple green number, can upgrade their plaque on the wall to reflect their prestigious status as a green number. The upgrade of the badge costs ZAR 275 (EUR 15). Only one block/badge per finisher is allowed. Plaques can be purchased retrospectively.

The first section of the wall is set aside and contains the plaques of former Comrades winners. The Comrades Marathon Association awards these to the winners starting from the first race winner, Bill Rowan, in 1921. On average about 500 runners a year are added to the Wall of Honor. Our virtual events don’t qualify for addition to the Wall.

(02/23/2021) Views: 1,448 ⚡AMP

Comrades Marathon denies financial problem speculations

Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) Tried to distance itself from inaccurate media speculation that 100-year-old road vehicles are in a dangerous financial position.

This comes after this week’s announcement that the 2021 race was canceled due to the coronavirus, as it was in 2020.

“We want to correct recent media reports claiming that the Comrade Marathon Association is facing financial difficulties and the future of the race is at stake,” Cheryl Win said in a statement on Friday.

“On the contrary, despite the cancellation of the second consecutive edition of the Comrade Marathon due to Covid-19 and the resulting blockade and consequent restrictions on mass participation sporting events, it is actually in a healthy financial position. ..

“Last year, we hosted our first highly successful virtual comrade marathon event and planned another event on June 13th, and we’ve accumulated 28 million rants over the last two decades to sustain our future. We are in a privileged position to have more than a reserve fund for our world-famous event.

“In fact, the CMA is currently in a very healthy financial position, thanks to the careful financial management of the current board and the foresight of the previous administration to secure funding in anticipation of a future’rainy day’. It is in.

“The oldest, largest and most famous ultramarathon in the world, and one of South Africa’s most important sports treasures, is facing a tight financial future or is on the verge of closing. I want to stop speculation.

“The mention of potential staff reductions is premature and unfounded. To staff who have provided viable suggestions to survive the storm and continue to serve the organization diligently in the current harsh climate. Thank you.

“The CMA Board’s top priority is to protect the health, safety and well-being of runners, staff, volunteers, sponsors, stakeholders and South Africans, while its top priority is to be a symbolic state agency. Maintaining a volunteer marathon and is economically important for stakeholder sports in Kwazul Natal and South Africa for the next 100 years.

“What CMA is doing effectively and responsibly is to string the purse in case the next comrade marathon can be held safely, in line with the green light from the state and national athletics federations. Protecting all possible resources. With government regulations. “

(02/13/2021) Views: 1,172 ⚡AMP
by Richard Damato

2021 Centenary Comrades Marathon has been cancelled due to the pandemic

The Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) Board has cancelled the Comrades Marathon, scheduled for June 13.

After having late last year undertaken to make announcements in mid-February regarding requirements for qualification and the staging of the 2021 Comrades Marathon, the decision to cancel will come as a disappointment to tens of thousands of runners; and has also been a tough call for CMA organisers to make, in what is the world-renowned Race’s Centenary year.

This decision comes in the wake of engagements with KwaZulu-Natal Athletics, Athletics South Africa, the National Coronavirus Command Council, members of the medical fraternity and governmental departments; and was a moral and practical imperative given the ongoing uncertainty and unprecedented circumstances of the Ccoronavirus pandemic, the onset of a second wave and a significantly more infectious variant of Covid-19, as well as the ongoing National State of Disaster and its associated restrictions.

The CMA Board is determined the health, safety and welfare of Comrades runners, officials, volunteers and the general public remains paramount even after having held out hope the road running event would be hosted in June.

The impending third wave of Covid-19, widely anticipated around April to June has ended any such hopes and makes the hosting of any mass event in the near future highly unlikely.

However, the good news is the Comrades Centenary Celebrations are imminent.

With the first Comrades Marathon having been held on May 24,1921, the CMA will launch its Centenary Celebrations on May 24.

Other great news is that the CMA has confirmed its 2nd Comrades Marathon virtual event will take place on June 13, in which runners will be able to run in any location, outside in their garden, or neighbourhood, all at their own pace, in a similar fashion to last year’s successful inaugural Race the Comrades Legends which saw 43 788 participants from more than 100 nations uniting in a single virtual event.

CMA cairperson, Cheryl Winn urged runners to accept and respect the CMA’s decision which has been made in conjunction with KZNA, ASA and government restrictions, and most importantly, with the utmost regard for the health and welfare of our athletes, volunteers and all other stakeholders.

A secondary consideration was the risk of committing precious resources towards the staging of an event which might later be cancelled at short notice and the CMA Board’s obligation for the preservation of the 100-year-old event’s assets into the future.

(02/10/2021) Views: 1,266 ⚡AMP

After cancelling the South African ultra, Comrades Marathon virtual event signups surpass 13,000 runners

One of the world’s most famous and coveted ultramarathons, the Comrades Marathon in South Africa, was cancelled due to COVID-19 in May. The race was set for June 14, and although no one will be physically running the course between the South African cities of Pietermaritzburg and Durban on that day, organizers have scheduled a virtual event called Race the Comrades Legends for the same date.

The event is open to anyone worldwide, and with just over a week to go before race day, over 13,000 people have registered to run.

In a normal year, the Comrades Marathon is 87K or 90K (the course changes directions each year, hence the two distances). Runners looking to participate in the virtual event will have the option to complete a 90K run in classic Comrades style, but there are also 5K, 10K, 21K and 45K options for anyone who isn’t looking to tackle an ultramarathon.

The event is free to anyone who was already registered for the 2020 Comrades Marathon, and it’s just $25 for everyone else. In addition to the race fee, runners have the option of donating to six local South African charities.

All participants will have to record their runs and upload them to the Comrades site, where results will be compiled and ranked. Runners can upload their runs using whatever tracking apps or GPS programs they prefer.

After all the results are in, runners will be able to see where they sit among the rest of the participants, and according to the virtual race press release, they will also be able to see how they rank against Comrades Marathon legends from past events.

All finishers will receive a virtual medal and finishing certificate immediately after completing their race, and in the weeks after the event, they will receive a physical medal as well.

(06/05/2020) Views: 2,109 ⚡AMP
by Ben Snider-McGrath

The Comrades Marathon will be offering a virtual alternative

All is not lost for disappointed long distance runners who qualified for the recent cancelled Comrades Marathon.

The Comrades Marathon Association has announced the launch of a virtual event, ‘Race the Comrades Legends’, which will see all finishers receiving a medal.

The world’s greatest ultra marathon will now also stage the world’s biggest virtual event, with athletes from around the globe invited to participate on Sunday, 14 June.

Entry will be free for South African runners who have already entered the 2020 Comrades.

The website will include an virtual online functionality through which runners can compete, ‘run with’ and compare outcomes against Comrades greats such as Bruce Fordyce, Frith van der Merwe, Samuel Tshabalala and many others.

All that runners need to do is to visit the Comrades website, register for ‘Race The Comrades Legends’ and select their distance (5km, 10km, 21km, 45km or 90km).

The cost is R150 for South African runners and $25 for foreign athletes who have not already paid for and qualified for the 2020 Comrades.

Once registration is complete, runners will receive all the necessary race information and rules prior to the race date.

Athletes will then run their respective races, capture their times using a normal timing device and upload it. Their results will be calculated and updated automatically.

They will thereafter receive personalised race feedback by email.

The programme will include full integration of all popular fitness apps, including Strava and Endomondo for direct upload, as well as Garmin, Polar and Suunto.

Runners who do not have any of these devices or apps can upload a GPX, TCX or FIT file format from other devices and apps, or they can manually enter their time based on any watch.

Every entrant will receive a digital race number prior to the race, a virtual medal and certificate immediately after the race and personalised results comparisons.

All finishers will receive a real medal, which will be distributed as soon as possible, as opposed to the majority of virtual races which generally only award virtual medals.

It works pretty much the same way as any other type of running, the difference being that the runner can run at any location, especially in the comfort of your own home, on a treadmill, outside in the garden, or neighbourhood and all at one’s own pace.

(05/21/2020) Views: 1,588 ⚡AMP
by Richard Springorum

After announcing the event would be postponed last month, organizers have now cancelled the Comrades Marathon altogether

Last month, Comrades Marathon race organizers announced that the event would be postponed, although no new dates were ever set. This morning, the Comrades Marathon Association and Athletics South Africa officially cancelled the event, once again extending the list of COVID-19 race casualties.

The 2020 event would have been the 95th running of the ultramarathon, but that milestone will have to wait until at least 2021.

The Comrades Marathon route switches direction every year, but it’s always run between the two same cities of Pietermaritzburg and Durban. There are “up” years (Durban to Pietermaritzburg), which are 87K with about 2,000 metres of elevation gain, and “down” years (Pietermaritzburg to Durban), which are 90K. This year would have been a down year, but runners will have to wait to make the trek until next June.

Comrades is the biggest race in South Africa, and in 2020 they had a cap of 27,500 racers. The race is a big source of pride for South Africans, and it’s been won by South African runners on many occasions, including the last eight-straight years.

This year’s race would have been the 95th running of the Comrades Marathon, but 2021 will actually be the 100th anniversary of the event (it wasn’t run for five years during World War II). It’s a shame that the event had to be cancelled this year, but it will make next year’s run more meaningful with the race celebrating 100 years of existence and its 95th running.

The race was first run in 1921 by Vic Clapham, who fought in World War I. Upon returning home to South Africa, he ran between Pietermaritzburg and Durban as a tribute for his fellow soldiers (or comrades) who didn’t make it home, officially starting the Comrades Marathon.

(05/15/2020) Views: 1,403 ⚡AMP
by Ben Snider-McGrath

The Comrades Marathon 2020 has been officially postponed

The 2020 Comrades Marathon has been postponed indefinitely. The postponement of the most famous and historic ultramarathon in South Africa was announced on Friday morning by Athletics South Africa.

The Comrades Marathon route travels between two cities, Pietermaritzburg and Durban. The direction changes, however, between “up” and “down” years. “Up” years see racers run 87K with about 2,000 meters of elevation gain. “Down” years are a bit further, hitting 90K, but the run is a net downhill.

It was set to be a down year in 2020, so the race was scheduled to start in Pietermaritzburg and head to Durban, on South Africa’s east coast. The cut-off for the Comrades Marathon is 12 hours.

Both Jim Walmsley and Camille Herron, American ultra running legends, were set to compete at the 2020 event was originally scheduled for Sunday June 14.

The news follows the April 9 announcement that South Africa would be extending its lockdown by another 14 days, before re-evaluating the country’s public health needs. 

Aleck Skhosana, president of Athletics South Africa, told Sport24, “The Comrades Marathon is therefore postponed from 14 June to a suitable date that will be determined between ASA, KZN Athletics and the Comrades Marathon Association as soon as conditions around the management of the virus allow us to under the guidance of the Government.”

(04/17/2020) Views: 1,740 ⚡AMP
by Madeleine Kelly

With South Africa entering its last week of official lockdown, Comrades Marathon unlikely to take place on June 14

With South Africa entering its last week of official lockdown, the 2020 Comrades Marathon Association has admitted that the iconic race is ‘unlikely to go ahead’ on 14 June. But organisers have not yet officially communicated their decision on the race’s future due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

It takes an extraordinary amount of resilience to run the Comrades Marathon, the 90km race between Durban and Pietermaritzburg. It takes an equal amount of motivation and organisation to host the race, with thousands of moving parts all needing to come together on one day to make the experience for the approximately 27,500 runners a bucket list dream-come-true. 

Of course, it also takes money and support to make it happen, which means sponsors, and broadcast rights. A cancelled marathon would result in a massive loss of revenue, which is why it is no surprise that the race has yet to be called off, or postponed because of Covid-19. 

The Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) appears to be taking every available minute to make a call. It is almost certainly a vain undertaking because the Covid-19 virus is going nowhere quickly – all the data leads to that conclusion. 

Despite the national lockdown that started on 27 March 2020, the CMA maintained its position that the race was still scheduled for 14 June 2020 even though participants would not easily be able to continue training under the strict State of National Disaster conditions. CMA quickly changed that stance after a backlash on social media. 

“We are living through unprecedented, unpredictable and unimaginably challenging times,” CMA chairperson Cheryl Winn wrote to participants recently. 

“On behalf of the Comrades Marathon Association, I thank you for your patience and apologise for the extent to which uncertainty as to the status of the 2020 Comrades Marathon may have added to your burden of anxiety, over matters far graver than any road race, over the past month. A reminder that we have promised to put an end to the uncertainty by 17 April. 

“Considering the ramifications of the 21-day national lockdown, and as Covid-19 numbers in South Africa and around the world continue to escalate, it is becoming increasingly unlikely that the 2020 Comrades Marathon will be staged on 14 June. 

“CMA’s main considerations at this stage are to encourage runners to abide by and respect all aspects and directives of Government in relation to the National Lockdown, in particular to stay at home and do not run outside of one’s own property, as well as regard for the eventual safety, welfare and potential un-preparedness of runners after having experienced a three-week interruption in training, during the critical build-up to such a gruelling endurance race. 

“With regard to possible postponement, which would require Athletics South Africa (ASA) sanction, the CMA Board is of the view that the race cannot be staged later than 4 October 2020 owing to climatic conditions.  Failing which the 2020 Comrades Marathon will have to be cancelled for the first and only time since World War 2 in the 99 year history of the race. 

We trust that runners will appreciate that within an extremely congested athletics calendar that is largely constructed around the Comrades Marathon, it is no easy task to identify an alternative date.

(04/11/2020) Views: 1,516 ⚡AMP
by Craig Ray

Until further notice, The Comrades Marathon will go ahead as planned

The Comrades Marathon Association’s (CMA) Board convened an urgent meeting on Monday evening in light of the outbreak of the coronavirus, also known as Covid-19, and the subsequent postponement or cancellation of sporting events and mass gatherings in the country.

Athletics South Africa (ASA), under the auspices of which the Comrades Marathon is held, has aligned itself with the national state of disaster as pronounced by President Cyril Ramaphosa and have taken a decision to postpone with immediate effect all athletics events in the country at all levels for 30 days.

This comes as the President specified strict measures to combat the virus which has been described as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The decision includes the postponement of all school athletics including the ASA National Primary Schools T&F Championships which was scheduled for Pietermaritzburg this week; the postponement of all club and provincial activities, including Fun Runs, Park Runs, Road-Running, Cross Country, Trail Running and Track & Field events; as well as the postponement of all ASA championships.

This comes as the President specified strict measures to combat the virus which has been described as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The decision includes the postponement of all school athletics including the ASA National Primary Schools T&F Championships which was scheduled for Pietermaritzburg this week; the postponement of all club and provincial activities, including Fun Runs, Park Runs, Road-Running, Cross Country, Trail Running and Track & Field events; as well as the postponement of all ASA championships.

Under the ongoing guidance of the government on the virus, as well as ASA and KwaZulu-Natal Athletics (KZNA), the CMA Board will review the situation by 17 April and advise Comrades athletes and stakeholders on the way forward, depending on the status of the virus in the country at the time.

CMA chairperson, Cheryl Winn said, “With nearly three months to go to #Comrades2020, the CMA Board has decided that it is premature to postpone this year’s Comrades Marathon. We will however continue to monitor the situation on a daily basis and will make a decision by 17 April depending upon how the situation evolves on whether to postpone #Comrades2020 to a date later in the year.”

Winn added: "We will make announcements and issue updates on an ongoing basis. As the CMA Board, we have to consider the best interest and well-being of our athletes, supporters, spectators, volunteers and the public.

With 282 successful substitution applications having been processed since opening of the 2020 substitution period, we urge all Comrades runners to continue with their training preparations for the 95th edition of the Ultimate Human Race.”

(03/17/2020) Views: 1,228 ⚡AMP

Erina Muzhingi wife of three-time Comrades Marathon winner, Zimbabwe's Stephen Muzhing dies

The Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) has expressed its sadness at the news of the death of Erina Muzhingi, wife of three-time Comrades Marathon winner, Zimbabwe's Stephen Muzhingi.

CMA chairperson, Cheryl Winn said, “We are deeply saddened to hear of the untimely passing of Mrs Muzhingi. She was a regular sight at Comrades, supporting Stephen and to a large extent, being the wind beneath his wings.”

Winn added, “Stephen’s Comrades Marathon track record is outstanding, with a total of 9 gold and 3 silver medals, including a rare hat-trick of three consecutive Comrades wins accomplished in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

However, the defining feature was that Erina was by Stephen’s side for just about all of his epic achievements. I clearly remember when Stephen had broken through the Comrades finish tape in 2010; he ran straight into the arms of his wife, who was waiting for him. We wish the family strength and solace during this difficult time.”

Formula One Eduworks Running Club Manager, Cliff Chetty said, “It has been a shock to the team, myself and many people around South Africa to hear of the passing away of Stephen’s wife, Erina Muzhingi, after a long illness.” 

Chetty added, “This news has really dampened our spirits as Stephen was in full training for the 2020 Comrades and was looking forward to race day. We have been in touch with him. He has three children and did not ever expect to lose his beloved wife so soon. Erina Muzhingi was part of the Formula One team and was proud to be at the finish each year as Stephen crossed the finish line. Stephen will have the full support from us going forward and will run this race in memory of his Wife. May she rest in peace as she is now in God's hands.”

(02/25/2020) Views: 1,609 ⚡AMP

The Comrades Marathon has been awarded Gold Label status by the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU)

The IAU introduced its own labeling system for qualifying events to ensure that the race route is measured to conform to World Athletics regulations as well as enjoying recognition by its own national athletics federation, being Athletics South Africa.

This effectively means that only athletic performances in IAU labeled races are officially recognized.

This is not only important for possible "Best Performances" but also for the calculations of any travel grants distributed at major IAU competitions.

The IAU Labels are certifications granted by the international body to ultradistance races and are categorized according to IAU Gold Label, IAU Silver Label and IAU Bronze Label.

The labels are conferred on IAU ultramarathon races in various categories. In order to qualify for the Gold Label status, the Comrades Marathon had to meet the following criteria:

Race history and performance: • Gold - the race must have existed for 3 years (3 editions) at least and if not, it must have had an IAU silver label for the previous year.

Elite performances: • Gold and Silver - at least 5 athletes (mixed men and women) performances at international (gold) or national level (silver) in one of the three previous years.

Course Measurement: • Gold - the route must be measured by an Official "A" or "B" WA/AIMS measurer following the WA rules (with the Jones Counter). • Gold and Silver - a technical delegate must be appointed prior to the race, decided between LOC, IAU General Secretary and Area Representative. 

Anti-doping Control: • Gold - Anti-doping control has to respect the WA guidelines and the numbers of controls will be discussed with the IAU. Costs are met by the race organization or the national federation.

"We are grateful to the IAU for conferring the impressive Gold Label status on the Comrades Marathon. This is indeed an honor and a privilege for the CMA; as well as being a massive show of confidence in the thousands of Comrades members, volunteers and stakeholders who execute a remarkable event year in and year out," said CMA chairperson, Cheryl Winn.

(11/28/2019) Views: 1,561 ⚡AMP

South African Gerda Steyn shattered the course record at Comrades as Camille had to drop out due to hamstring issues

The 94th running of South Africa’s premier Ultra marathon, the Comrades got underway at 5:30am Sunday June 9. 

South African runners Edward Mothibi and Gerda Steyn ended up the 2019 Comrades Marathon champions.  Gerda broke the course record winning one million R ($66,849US) in the process.  

Edward Mothibi won the race after a fourth placed finish in his Comrades debut last year, beating defending champion Bongmusa Mthembu by just 25 seconds.

Local favourite Gerda Steyn stole the show on Sunday as she shattered the women’s record leading the charge with South African athletes produced sterling performances in KwaZulu-Natal.

After breaking clear of the rest of the women’s field shortly before the halfway mark, Steyn gradually extended her lead throughout the second half, crossing the line in 5:58:53 to secure her maiden victory in the 87km race between Durban and Pietermaritzburg.

This shattered the up-run record, held by Russian runner Elena Nurgalieva, by more than ten minutes. Steyn became the first woman to run the Comrades up run in less than six hours. Her time was the fourth fastest of all-time for women, the only faster times were notched in down-runs.

The race is run ‘gun to gun’ meaning that contestants have 12 hours in total to complete the course.

This year’s race is an “UP RUN” starting at the City Hall in Durban and finished at the Scottsville Racecourse in Pietermaritzburg. The race distance is approximately 87km.

28-year-old Gerda Steyn has enjoyed a meteoric rise from amateur to professional in the space of just five years. After finishing as runner-up last year, Steyn took a six-week break from the sport before preparing to tackle the New York Marathon, finishing 13th in a PR of 2:31. The 2018 and 2019 Two Oceans winner made it clear in advance that her goal this year was to win and that is what she did this morning. 

America’s Camille Herron was not able to finished and dropped out.  

Camille’s brother Jack posted this on Facebook.  “My sister Camille Herron ended up dropping out from Comrades due too hamstring issues she’s been dealing with. I’m heart broken for her because this is just such a special event for her and our entire family.

“I understand the whole mentality of getting to race another day... but she trains so hard and we wait all year for her to defend this title she’s earned. I mean, just her single win is enough, but she goes out every time for a win, so when it doesn’t happen... it’s tough.”

Steyn now will shifts her focus away from Ultra marathons in a bid to qualify for the Olympic marathon in Tokyo next year. The Olympic marathon is expected to be run in blistering heat, with the start moved to 06:00 to mitigate potentially dangerous temperatures. Steyn’s ultra experience could make her a real contender for the Olympic crown.

(06/09/2019) Views: 2,363 ⚡AMP

America’s Camille Herron has a real shot at winning the Comrades marathon for the second time

The 94th running of the world-famous Comrades Marathon is scheduled to begin at 5:30am (8:30pm Pacific time Saturday) on Sunday, taking place from Durban to Pietermaritzburg.

“The Comrades Marathon attracts the very best ultra-runners in the world and this year will be no different. This year’s up-run already promises to be an epic race,” said Cheryl Winn, CMA chairperson.

In the women’s race, America’s Camilla Herron has a real shot of winning for the second time but her competition is top notch.

Here are the top five female contenders: 

1. Ann Ashworth (second photo) shocked the field to win the 2018 race with a tactical and composed performance. She subsequently left her career as an advocate to run full time ahead of the 2019 race. Ashworth is in good form and achieved a marathon PB of 2:35 at the Valencia Marathon in December.  A genuine contender to become the first female to win back-to-back races since Elena Nurgalieva.

2. Gerda Steyn The 28-year-old has enjoyed a meteoric rise from amateur to professional in the space of just five years. After finishing as runner-up last year, Steyn took a six-week break from the sport before preparing to tackle the New York Marathon, finishing 13th in a PB of 2:31. The 2018 and 2019 Two Oceans winner has made it clear, her goal this year is to claim a maiden Comrades Marathon title.

3. Camille Herron (first photo) was left gutted just weeks before last year’s race as injury robbed her of a chance to claim back-to-back victories. It has been two years since her big win but the raging crowds and electric atmosphere which greeted her at the finish at Scottsville Racecourse will serve as a huge motivating factor as she prepares for a comeback. She set a new 100-mile record at the Desert Solstice Track Invitational in December. As the reigning up-run champion, the 37-year-old is a genuine title contender.

4. Charne Bosman The 2016 down-run winner has proved to be one of South Africa’s most consistent athletes in recent years. She has five gold medals from six starts at Comrades. She is now 43 but there are no signs of her powers waning. She won the Johnson Crane Hire Marathon in January and the Om Die Dam Marathon in March. Bosman is in red hot form and is a genuine contender to win the race.

5. American Devon Yanko’s (third photo) Comrades journey began back in 2012 when she came fifth on debut. She then took a four-year break from the race but returned over the last two years to earn another two gold medals. She won the Oaklands Marathon in a time of 2:43 in March. An accomplished runner who knows what it takes push for a win.

Should the winner in either the Men’s or Women’s races in this year’s Comrades break the ‘Up Run’ Best Times of Russia’s Leonid Shvetsov (2008 – 5:24:49) or Elena Nurgalieva (2006 – 6:09:24) respectively, he or she will take home a minimum of R1-million ($66,849US) in Comrades prize money, comprised of a first prize of R500,000 plus a R500,000 incentive for breaking the Best Time; in addition to prizes for First South African (R200,000) and First KZN Man and Woman (R45,000). 

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70-year-old Rosina Sebati will be this year’s oldest female runner at the Comrades Marathon

Rosina Sebati, 70, who ran her first Comrades in 2008, said her inspiration came after watching Bruce Fordyce still competing at an advanced age.

Sebati said her goal was to run at least 10 Comrades Marathons in her lifetime.

“I was very nervous about the race, I had never seen so many people all in one place at the same time and although I did not make it in time to finish, I got to experience the spirit of Comrades.

Runners do help each other out there while running, its where age, gender and colour disappear,” she said.

Sebati said although she had been a runner while growing up, even representing her province (Transvaal) , she only began running again after she was 50 in an effort to keep healthy.

“I will walk/ run up those difficult Cowie’s and Field’s hills. I want to finish in 11 hours,” she said.

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This year 80-year-old Alf Burgess his running his 19th Comrades Marathon

The Richmond, KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, resident said he is a regular runner in his neighborhood and has become a familiar face to drivers on this route.

“I start my running regime at midnight but moved it to 2am or 3am to run with the delivery trucks entering the area to feel safer. I run at least 7 minutes per kilometer,” said Burgess.

“I ran my first Comrades in 1967 with my teammate Tommy Malone, who died two months ago.”

He recalled the marathon in 1966 where Malone won his first his Comrades, saying this had inspired him to participate the following year.

Burgess participated in the race the following year where Malone lost by one second to Manie Kuhn because of a leg cramp.

“I placed 51st in my first race. I’m running again after 18 years and I’ve run 18 (Comrades) marathons.”

He admitted that he used to start the marathon too fast causing him to tire easily and this contributed heavily to his 18-year long break from his last race in 2001.

Burgess said he plans to run another race in order to complete his personal goal of 20 races.

His advice to those who are keen on running the Comrades for the first time was to be fit, to start off with a walk and then a park run.

(06/07/2019) Views: 2,135 ⚡AMP

Maurice Rosen is running the 2019 Comrades Marathon for the 36th time since he was 25

Comrades veteran Maurice Rosen, 65, a financial officer says it was the feelings and emotions he felt in 1979 when he crossed the finish line after 89km that keeps him coming back every year.

“It's just that feeling at the end when you cross that finish line.

"Probably 95% of Comrades is the actual training and you put so much training into it and it is such a special day. I just want to get to the finish line,” he said.

Rosen said he had finished every Comrades he had entered, and he also enjoyed taking part in the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon and the Two Oceans Marathon.

The early riser said he starts training for the marathon a few months before Comrades by doing smaller weekend marathons in and around Joburg, and the intensity of his training picked up about three months before Comrades.

Over a five-month period, Rosen said, he runs about 2000km (1240 miles) in total.

He added there was a 10-week period before the marathon which was crucial for training, and he “buckles down.”

However, the week before the gruelling event he spends most of his time resting.

“It's difficult to train, but I think that it would be more difficult to sit in front of the television and try and watch it. I would say to myself that 'I just want to be there, I have got to be there',” he said.

Rosen ran Comrades for the first time in 1979 and has run every year except 1984 when he was studying. 

(06/05/2019) Views: 2,211 ⚡AMP

Gerda Steyn is focused to take the title at the 94th Comrades Marathon Sunday

After narrowly missing the record in last month’s Two Oceans Marathon, Steyn has enjoyed a trouble-free training camp in the mountains of France, together with third place finisher from last year, Steve Way, and Anthony Clark, both running this year’s race in the colours of Nedbank Running Club.

“A lot of people asked me if I am disappointed at just missing the record in Two Oceans,” laughed Steyn.

“Looking back at it now it was a little bit sad to be so close but even with 8km to go, I told myself to save the legs because Comrades is my main focus of the year and I didn’t want to do too much damage.” It’s a decision that Steyn hopes will pay dividends in this year’s event.

Last year’s winner Ann Ashworth comes into this race much faster than before, but it is the Up-run defending champion, Nedbank Running Club’s Camille Herron, who is hoping to defend her title.

A strong athlete with multiple world records, Herron is well known for her awkward running style that took her to victory in 2017.

Teaming up with her club mate Steyn, the two make a dangerous combination.

Throw in stalwart Fikile Mbuthuma and OMTOM gold medalist Ntombesintu Mfunzi who will be one to watch on her Comrades debut, the ‘Green Dream Team’ ladies will be a force on the route.

Adding to Nedbank’s Comrades debuts this year is Poland's Dominika Stelmach who had an unfortunate injury that forced her out of starting last year’s race.

After her fourth-place finish at this year’s Two Oceans, Stelmach is hungry to make an impression.

Also making a debut will be four-time World Ironman champion Chrissie Wellington. The 42-year-old English athlete ran 2 hours 51 minutes in this year’s London Marathon to qualify for Comrades which puts her in with a chance of a top 10 finish.

Carla Molinaro who represented Great Britain last year in the World 100km championships, but now has South African citizenship, will be another athlete looking for a top 10 finish after finishing ninth last year.

South African Deanne Horn is a newcomer in the ultra-marathon scene. She finished 42nd in her debut in 2017 and finished 15th last year and has represented South Africa in the World 100km championships. Together with team-mates Steyn, Mfunzi, Molinaro and Mbuthuma, the Nedbank ladies will be looking to take the team prize in this year’s race.

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Canadians Catrin Jones and Calum Neff head to Comrades Marathon

Catrin Jones and Calum Neff, two of Canada’s strongest ultrarunners, are heading to South Africa this week to tackle the 94th running of South Africa’s most famous and historic ultramarathon, the Comrades, next Saturday, June 8.

Neff ran it for the first time last year, finishing in 31st position overall, in 6:08:06. Jones will be racing Comrades for the first time.

Jones is a veteran of the BC trail and road scenes who has eased back into racing since having her daughter, Elodie, who is now two.

“I’ve been wanting to go for years and thought about it many times,” says Jones, inspired by her friend, the much-decorated ultrarunner Ellie Greenwood, who won Comrades in 2014.

Jones won last year’s Squamish 50K and Whistler 30K, and finished third at the 2018 BMO Vancouver Marathon.

Neff holds the Guinness World Record for fastest marathon while pushing a stroller (2:21:22), set with his daughter Alessandra at the 2016 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon.

(Neff also held the half-marathon stroller record for a time, but his 1:11:27 from 2016 was eclipsed in 2017.) Neff is from Ontario but lives and trains in Houston, Texas.

(06/03/2019) Views: 2,099 ⚡AMP

Kenyan athletes have never been big on tackling the 90km race between Pietermaritzburg and Durban South Africa

The Comrades Marathon hasn't been a hit with Kenyan long distance athletes‚ but the entries of Justin Chesire Kemboi and Melly Kennedy will lend the long needed East African flavour the race has needed.

Kenyan athletes have long been considered as the toast of African distance running with their Ethiopian competitors close behind them.

However‚ they've never been big on tackling the 90km race between Pietermaritzburg and Durban.

In the race's roll of honour‚ that's showed but they've made an impression on the shorter and less taxing Two Oceans Marathon (56km).

Cheshire and Kennedy will be running for the Nedbank Running Club with the former having won the Two Oceans Marathon last year in a time of 3.09.21.

Kennedy came fourth in the same race. This year‚ Kemboi was third behind Bong'musa Mthembu and David Gatebe.

Nick Bester‚ a former Comrades Marathon winner and team manager of the Nedbank Running Club‚ said there's enough financial incentive in the world's oldest and largest ultra-marathon for them to take it serious.

Elite Kenyan marathon runners are often seen dominating blue chip races like the New York‚ London and Boston Marathons.

The winner of the respective Comrades races will win R500,000 ($34,000US) each with the runner's up winning R250,000 ($17,000US).

“Which professional athlete will run a long distance for free? It makes no sense.

"Why would you waste your legs and body on a long distance and not get paid for it. It's a professional thing and guys have to be paid for their efforts‚” Bester said.

“Their mindset isn't shaped by ultra-marathons as they are pretty fast.

"They grow up in environments where track and shorter marathons dominated their thinking. The Comrades has always been a great race but it's become very popular now with international athletes.

"One must remember that Comrades isn't about pace or speed. It's a lot about the mental battle.”

It will be interesting to see how these Kenyans will do in this year's Comrades Marathon.

 

(05/30/2019) Views: 2,338 ⚡AMP

Siya Mqambeli could win the Comrades Marathon June 9

Granted, Siya Mqambeli is not yet in the class of a Bongmusa Mthembu or David Gatebe, but to win The Ultimate Human Race takes way more than talent. An athlete needs to have the will and self-belief that he can conquer one of the world’s most difficult ultra-marathons.

Mqambeli has both in abundance and those around him are in no doubt that the runner from Mount Frere in the Eastern Cape, South Africa will back his words with action come June 9.

Given his great runs at the Eastern Cape’s Buffs and Legends Marathons this year, you could not argue that he is one to watch.

Mqambeli finished third in both races, running 2hr 26min in the standard marathon and 4:12 in the 68km Legends event.

But it was at Entsika's camp in Dullstroom where he gave the clearest indication yet that he is going for Comrades gold.

During an easy one-hour run with five of his teammates and yours truly, Mqambeli was poetry in motion and hardly looked like he got out of first gear. He exchanged friendly banter with teammate Gordon Lesetedi and his face told the story of a contented man.

This was in stark contrast to last year when he resembled an adopted kid struggling to be at home in his new environment, reserved and conspicuous by his silence.

He ran an impressive 6:09.10 for 32md place in the Down Run last year to take home his sixth silver medal in seven attempts.

Next weekend, he is on no doubt he will bring home gold.

“So far my training has gone well,” he said with a broad smile. “I’m going to make things happen. I am confident that something great is going to happen come June 9.”

That Mqambeli is a new man has to do with the impact made by Entsika, the company that took coach John Hamlett and his athletes under their wing when their previous backers pulled out.

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Coach John Hamlett says defending Comrades Marathon champion will be hard-pressed to defend his 2017 title

Speaking at the Team Entsika's launch in Dullstroom in Mpumalanga on Thursday‚ Hamlett‚ who has coached five Comrades Marathon winners since 2001‚ said Mthembu will be hard-pressed to defend his 2017 title because of his recent Two Oceans Marathon win.

“He's a tough athlete and there's nothing wrong with the man."It would be wonderful for him to win because it would make him into a legend.

"However‚ he's got a problem in reality because the guys feel exactly the way he does. They're hungry‚” Hamlett said.Team Entsika‚ which replaced the Tom-Tom Athletics team two years ago‚ has the likes of Gordon Lesetedi‚ Gift Kelehe and Siya Mqambeli to call on.

Kelehe followed in his brother Andrew's footsteps by winning the 2015 up-run in a time of 5.38.36 while his brother won the 2001 down-run in a time of 5.25.51.

Lesetedi (sixth)‚ down-run record holder David Gatebe (eighth) and Kelehe (ninth) were part of a Team Entsika trio that finished in the top 10 in last year's down-run that was won by Mthembu in a time of 5.26.34.

Mthembu won the 2017 up-run in a time of 5.35.34 in a race where Kelehe was third in a time of 5.41.48.Mthembu won last month's Two Oceans Marathon in Cape Town in a time of 3.08.40.

“We've given him the bonus for the past two years but as a coach‚ I am concerned by the fact that he's run and won the Two Oceans Marathon so close to the Comrades‚" he said."It doesn't help you too much but we'll talk after 65kms.

”This year's Comrades Marathon up from Durban to Pietermaritzburg will take place on June 9.

(05/23/2019) Views: 2,118 ⚡AMP

Camille Herron is back and better than ever after suffering a quad injury

Herron transitioned to trail running in 2016 and promptly set a course record by 27 minutes at the Ultra Race of Champions 100K in 9:36:05—and did it while drinking a Rogue Ales Dead Guy Ale during the last few miles of the race, which has since become part of her racing strategy.

In June 2017, Camille Herron competed in Comrades Marathon, a race in South Africa known for its 55-miles of torturous mountainous climbs. She crossed the line first by over four minutes, and became the third American ever to win the race.

Then in November, Herron not only won her first 100-mile race at the Tunnel Hill 100, but broke the World Record for the women’s 100-mile distance by over an hour.

During the race, she averaged a pace of 7:38 per mile. For Herron, running is not only a sport, but an extension of her identity; she is voracious in her pursuit of distance, but she has fun, too.

She looks forward to her post-run bacon and beer and, the night before big races, Herron brings a speaker to host dance parties. Sometimes she’s still dancing the next morning on the start line. This year, Herron was poised to return to the 2018 Comrades race in the best shape of her life.

However, in late May of 2018, just weeks before she was set to toe the line, she tried a new quad strengthening routine she found on YouTube. Always one to push herself to the limits, Herron found herself limping in the days that followed, due to a stress reaction of the femur and she withdrew from Comrades.

Weeks later, realizing she could not run at all, she withdrew from the 2018 Western States Endurance Run as well. Herron, 36, who now splits her time between Alamosa, Colorado, and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, took her first steps back running eight weeks ago and recently completed a 114.6-mile week of training.  Camille is back and will be racing soon.

(11/15/2018) Views: 1,911 ⚡AMP

Richard Mazungula was born to run but he didn't know it until last year

Richard Mazungula is arguably one of the best athletes in Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa. The 41-year-old said he used to run in track races in high school, but it’s been years. “Back then, people used to tell me I had talent, but I only ran for fun, not for fame. I don’t know why I started running again. It can only be God’s grace,” he explained. His first venture back on the track was for a 5km race in Forest Hill last year and, to his great surprise, he came first. He’s been running non-stop ever since. Since September last year, Mazungula has run almost 75 races. He is now a proud member of the Nedbank Running Club.  Mazungula has astounded many racing fans by running five ultra marathons this year alone. The first was the Amobia Bay Ultra Marathon in February, followed by the 2018 Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon and the Bruintjieshoogte Marathon. Only four days after the that Marathon he ran the Zwelitsha Mdantsane Ultra Marathon. The last ultra was the 2018 Comrades Marathon. This came as a surprise to him as well as he said he never ran more than 15km races when he was younger. “Most athletes only run one ultra a year. I’ve run five this year alone and I have no pain or injuries. “It must be God’s will. “Some of the guys asked me if I had any help, but I don’t use any supplements or anything like that. We’re tested for those kind of things. I just like to run.” (07/25/2018) Views: 1,839 ⚡AMP

Xolani Luvuno finishes the Comrades Marathon and says running has turned his life around after losing one leg

Xolani Luvuno, was five hours into the race when the rest of the field started at 5:30 a.m. He had been granted additional time because after an injury his right leg was amputated, according to News 24, an African news outlet. Race organizers granted him the additional time on the course, but said he would not be an official participant of the race because it would take longer than the 12-hour cutoff time. He says that the marathon required a lot of training.  “It helped me to turn my life around because I used to be an alcoholic, going to parties.  Instead of partying anymore, I focus on my running.” He had this to say at the finish line: “I wanted to make sure that I finish before cut-off time and my coach said to me don’t rush because the Comrades Marathon is not 42km, it’s a big race. I want to say thank you to the supporters who cheered for me on the route, as well as the director of the Comrades Marathon for giving me this chance.” But just like he had overcome a lot in his life just to make it to this race, Luvuno was there to overcome the course. He did just that when he crossed the line in 15 hours, 50 minutes.  (06/11/2018) Views: 1,799 ⚡AMP

South African Runners take Top spots at the Comrades Ultra Marathon

South Africa completed a clean sweep at the Comrades Marathon on Sunday as Bongmusa Mthembu and Ann Ashworth ensured that the coveted titles remained in South Africa. It was a South Africa 1-2 in the two categories with Joseph Mphuthi and Gerda Steyn‚ clinching the runners-up spots. In achieving his feat‚ Mthembu completed a hat-trick of victories (after he won in 2014 and 2017) and in the process became only the second man to do it since Bruce Fordyce won the popular ultra-marathon back to back in 1988. The Arthur Ford runner waded off a strong challenge from Marko Mambo of Zimbabwe‚ who had set the pace for the better part in the second half of the 90km down run. Mthembu made his breakthrough at Cowies Hill‚ some 18km from the finish at the Moses Mabhida Stadium. At this point‚ it was left for the rest of the pack that also had a significant South African presence to jostle for the remaining top ten slots. (06/10/2018) Views: 1,950 ⚡AMP

Last year's Comrades winner will defend his title on sunday at Comrades Marathon

Bongmusa Mthembu wants to prove he is South Africa’s current best ultra-distance runner.  He has finished among the top three on five occasions at Comrades, with four of those performances achieved on the ‘down’ run. The only South African since 1990 to secure victory more than once.  He was also a silver medallist at the 2016 100km World Championships, and he will be eager to stand up and deliver once again. Other contenders include powerful front-runner Rufus and in-form Zimbabwean athlete Hatiwande Nyamande. While Mthembu and Gatebe are considered the pre-race favorites, a number of other athletes could pull through to win this wide-open race. Title contenders include former winners Ludwick Mamabolo and Gift Kelehe, as well as Zimbabwean athlete Hatiwande Nyamande, who finished third in last year’s ‘up’ run.  On the women's side, last year’s American winner Camille Herron is not running.  (06/09/2018) Views: 1,852 ⚡AMP

Veteran athlete Barry Holland will be running his 46th Comrades Marathon

Comrades veteran Holland aims to extend unique record, Barry Holland will bid to complete his 46th Comrades Marathon this Sunday and extend the record for most finishes in the race. “I’m very proud about the record; it has been a very long journey. I’ve been running since I was 20 years old and I’ve run every race since then,” he said from his home in Durban yesterday. Holland jointly holds the record for the most completed Comrades finishes with Louis Massyn and Dave Rogers, who has stopped running. “I’m hoping to run about 10 hours and 50 minutes on Sunday. I’m running with my daughter and it’s her first run, so I’m expecting it to be a very special and emotional day with her,” he said. The 66-year old said the most interesting thing over the years was the difficulty to achieve certain goals. He said it took a great deal of hard work and dedication to get certain goals and milestones that were normally time-based, like the Comrades. “I originally wanted to get less than seven hours and I battled to do that for a very long time. Overcoming that obstacle by thinking, strategising and unpacking my training has been the most interesting thing over the years,” he said. When speaking about the difficulties faced during the race, Holland said a runner needed great discipline and a “good head” to get through certain questions, such as “why am I doing this?”, halfway through the marathon. “Your mental side is bigger than the physical side. (06/06/2018) Views: 1,830 ⚡AMP

Underberg local Nkosinathi Duma is dreaming big for this year's Comrades Marathon

Nkosinathi Duma is still a relative novice in the Comrades Marathon but that doesn’t stop him from dreaming big. Born and bred in Underberg in KwaZulu-Natal, Duma has experienced a mixed and emotional start to his Comrades career. He made his debut in the world’s biggest ultra-marathon back in 2013. The 31-year-old has competed in three Comrades but has only managed to finish two. After making his debut in the famous race, Duma opted for a two-year break and returned in 2016. Things didn’t go as planned. though, as he failed to finish. Last year he came back strong as he finished 16th overall. Now Duma is backing himself for a top 10 place and the gold medal that this brings. He has been training with last year’s champion Bongmusa Mthembu under coach Arthur Ford. “Nothing has disrupted my preparations. I have no injuries and I’m looking forward to the race,” Duma enthused. “I started my preparations in December. My training programme is different from the one I used in 2016 and 2017. For the past two years, we used to run 150km per week and this time around we are running more than 250km per week. “It hasn’t been easy but it is worth it. I want to emulate my performance of last year. My target this year is to be in the top 10,” he added with confidence. (06/04/2018) Views: 1,804 ⚡AMP

Wietsie van der Westhuizen has participated in 40 consecutive Comrades Marathons

Wietsie van der Westhuizen's love for running started when he was a student at Potchefstroom University in Free State, and he has since participated in 40 consecutive Comrade Marathons. He was invited to run the Two Oceans Marathon by a friend, and this lead to his first Comrades. "At the end of the Two Oceans Marathon, they handed out pamphlets on the Comrades, and I decided to do the Comrades. So at the age of 19, I ran my first Comrades — and I have not stopped yet," the 60-year-old said. He says running is a great sport, because it unites people.   "Anybody can run; you don't have to be a built person, you can be overweight, you can be skinny. Running is for the average person, and I love the spirit of running. Runners do not see color; they're just comrades, like a family," he said. Van der Westhuizen will be running his 41st consecutive Comrades Marathon is a family affair. "My two daughters are running, my son-in-law is running, my brother are running..." (05/30/2018) Views: 1,664 ⚡AMP

South African's Johannes Kekana, says I am afraid this will be my final race in Comrades

It's gold or bust for Johannes Kekana at this year's Comrades Marathon, the veteran runner saying he is taking a final tilt at golden glory in The Ultimate Human Race. “I am afraid this will be my final race in Comrades if I fail to make it into the top ten this year,” the Boxer Athletics Club runner said yesterday. While he is one of the country's best in the standard marathon, Kekana has not made great shakes in the ultra-distances. His best run in Comrades came way back in 2013 when he finished 5th in a time of 5:46:27. Before and thereafter, Kekana never broke six hours. Why then is he putting his cards out on the table as he has this time around? “I am feeling like I did back in 2012 and 2013. One of the main reasons I've not had good Comrades runs is the lack of proper camp because of not having sponsors. In 2012 (he completed Comrades in 6hrs and three seconds) and 2013, I was running for Bonitas who organised camps for us. I also did very well in both the Two Oceans and City to City.” He has had a good camp in Mpumalanga and is looking forward to next Sunday. (05/29/2018) Views: 1,661 ⚡AMP

Willie Mtolo is adamant that South African athletes will again emerge victorious at the Comrades Marathon

Running legend Mtolo is optimistic that the domination of South Africa’s black male athletes will continue in this year’s Comrades Marathon. The showdown for this much anticipated, world famous KwaZulu/Natal ultra-marathon will take place on June 10. This year’s edition is the Down Run and will see the race starting in Pietermaritzburg with the finish now moved to the iconic Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban. The supremacy of black local athletes has been evident in the past six years since Ludwick Mamabolo ended Zimbabwean Stephen Muzhingi’s three-year (2009 to 2011) stranglehold on the event. Claude Moshiywa, Bongmusa Mthembu (twice), Gift Kelehe and David Gatebe have ensured the title of The Ultimate Human Race remains on local shores. Mtolo is adamant that South African athletes will again emerge victorious in a fortnight’s time. “My money is on either Bongmusa Mthembu or David Gatebe. You can’t also rule out Gift Kelehe. I have no doubt that Comrades will be won by another South African athlete this year.”  “Between Mthembu and Gatebe, one of them will win Comrades. Mthembu possesses a very impressive record (5.28.34) in the Down Run,” explained Mtolo who finished Comrades runner-up in 1989 and 2002. (05/28/2018) Views: 1,750 ⚡AMP

Former champion Caroline Wostmann has withdrawn from the Comrades Marathon.

Former champion Caroline Wostmann withdraws from Comrades. Wostmann made the announcement through her running club KPMG. "We all understand that her withdrawal is a loss for the 2018 Comrades Marathon and Caroline’s large number of loyal supporters. This was a very tough and emotional decision, but we all believe it was the right one for the athlete at this point in time," the club said. "As a previous winner of both the Comrades and Two Oceans marathons, Caroline was doing everything in her power to properly prepare for this race she so dearly loves. The KPMG Running Club will continue to support Caroline on her journey back to full fitness." Wostmann, 2015 Comrades Marathon and two-time Two Oceans champion, was in the middle of her journey back to full fitness after struggling most of 2017 with a torn quadratus femoris muscle (muscle under the glute) in her left leg. (05/26/2018) Views: 1,888 ⚡AMP

Rob Davies biggest challenge is the 58 mile Comrades ultra marathon coming up June 10

Rob Davies will fly to South Africa in preparation for a gruelling challenge that starts on June 10. Rob, 59, will be competing in the Comrades Ultra Marathon, also known as the Ultimate Human Race, a road race with a distance of 58 miles (90.1km). The race starts at Pietermaritzburg and ends in Durban in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province. The race has to be completed in 12 hours, starting at 5.30am where the temperatures can be close to freezing and rising to a possible 80F as the day progresses. The terrain is very hilly, meaning an already extremely challenging race is made even tougher. Mr Davies said: “Family, friends and colleagues know that I 'run a bit', or should I say 'a lot'. I have been fortunate enough, privileged even, to be able to complete 48 marathons, across Wales, England, Ireland, France and Germany but this is by far my biggest challenge to date.” He started his training in December which typically involves 8 to 10 hours running weekly alongside strength and conditioning in the gym. (05/25/2018) Views: 1,574 ⚡AMP