Comrades Marathon
Ultramarathon road race between Durban and Pietermaritzburg / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Comrades Marathon is an ultramarathon of approximately 88 kilometres (55 mi)[1] which is run annually in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa between the cities of Durban and Pietermaritzburg. It is the world's largest and oldest ultramarathon race.[2] The direction of the race alternates each year between the "up" run (87.6km) starting from Durban (elevation: 101 metres (331 ft)) and the "down" run (87.7km) starting from Pietermaritzburg (elevation: 921 metres (3,022 ft)).
Comrades Marathon | |
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Date | May / June |
Location | Durban / Pietermaritzburg, South Africa |
Event type | Road |
Distance | Ultramarathon (90 km) |
Established | 1921; 103 years ago (1921) |
Course records |
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Official site | The Comrades Marathon |
The 2019 field was capped at 25,000 runners, and the entry process closed after one week.[3] South African runners constitute the greater part of the field, but many entrants hail from the United Kingdom, Zimbabwe, India, the United States, Brazil, Australia, Botswana, Russia, Eswatini and Japan .[3][4] In all but three runnings since 1988, over 10,000 runners have reached the finish within the allowed 11 or 12 hours.[5] With increased participation since the 1980s, the average finish times for both sexes, and the average age of finishers have increased substantially.[6]
The race was not held from 1941 to 1945 due to World War II, and the in-person edition of the race was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. It was resumed in 2022 with a field of 15,000 entrants.[7]
Since 2019 runners over the age of 20 qualify when they are able to complete an officially recognised marathon (42.2 km) in under 4:50 (5 hours before 2019).[8] During the event an athlete must also reach five cut-off points in specified times to complete the race.[1] The spirit of the Comrades Marathon is said to be embodied by attributes of camaraderie, selflessness, dedication, perseverance, and ubuntu.[9]