Comrades Marathon

The Comrades Marathon has run between Durban and Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal since 1921, founded by Vic Clapham to honor soldiers of the First World War. The direction alternates each year: up runs climb from Durban to Pietermaritzburg, down runs reverse it, and the exact distance shifts with the course, usually between 85 and 90 kilometers.

With more than 20,000 starters, packed roadsides, and a 12-hour final gun broadcast live across South Africa, it is the biggest day in ultrarunning anywhere. The medal structure, from gold for the top ten to the Vic Clapham for beating 12 hours, is a culture of its own.

Rolling tar the whole way over the Big Five hills: Cowies, Fields, Botha's, Inchanga, and Polly Shortts. Up runs finish in Pietermaritzburg after roughly 1,900 meters of climbing; down runs pound the quads into Durban. The 2026 up run measured 85.777 km.

Entries open in the months after each race and are capped; the field fills quickly. Every runner must post a qualifying marathon time inside the qualifying window, with seeding batches set by qualifying performance.