Publications
Partners
With a little under two months to go before this year’s Comrades Marathon gets under way, the race office has adjusted the prize money on offer.
The Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) announced yesterday that the winning man and woman in the race on June 11 will each receive R500 000 and the prize money will double if the champion breaks the record.
This year’s race will start at the Pietermaritzburg City Hall and end 12 hours later at the Hollywoodbets Kingsmead Cricket Stadium in Durban.
The association said:
The CMA added that, besides the prizes on offer, the first South African and first KwaZulu-Natal athlete to cross the finish line will receive R200 000 and R60 000, respectively.
The association has also put aside a R500 000 incentive for breaking the Comrades’ down run record, with the men’s mark set by David Gatebe in 2016 being 5:18:19 and the women’s mark set by Frith van der Merwe in 1989 being 5:54:43.
READ: Ethiopian newcomer Hiyane Lama wins Spar women's 10km race
The race office said the total distance of this year’s race would be approximately 88km, due to ongoing roadworks in the area.
Last year’s edition was run in August, which was later than the traditional Comrades fixture date in June, after the return of the event from its Covid-19-enforced hiatus in 2020 and 2021.
READ: Track is clearing up for King Ryan
The finish at Kingsmead stadium will be the first time the race has ended there in seven years.
South Africa’s Tete Dijana is the defending men’s champion, while Russian runner Alexandra Morozova currently holds the women’s title.
In claiming the top prize, Dijana beat his training partner and the defending champion at the time, Edward Mothibi.
