“Our Comrades Race4Charity runners are an absolute inspiration and their motivation and passion spurs us on to do more, give more and be more,” says Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) Charities & CSI Convenor, Pat Freeman, who has thanked all Comrades Marathon runners, supporters, sponsors and the public at large for their big-heartedness in contributing to this year’s Comrades Amabeadibeadi charity drive.

The CMA officially handed over the funds raised via entries into the 2020 Comrades Marathon (‘The Race That Never Was’) and the inaugural ‘Race The Comrades Legends’ virtual event to its six Official Amabeadibeadi Charities this week. 

With the National Lockdown discouraging large gatherings, the CMA opted for an innovative virtual handover as opposed to the hosting of its traditional charities handover event at Comrades House.

R2.28-million was distributed to the six official Amabeadibeadi charities, namely the Durban & Pietermaritzburg Community Chests, Childhood Cancer Foundation (CHOC), Hillcrest Aids Centre Trust, Hospice Palliative Care Association, Wildlands Conservation Trust and World Vision SA.

This amount included R330-thousand raised via the CMA’s inaugural virtual event, ‘Race The Comrades Legends’ which was hosted on Sunday, 14 June. 

Runners who chose to Race4Charity raised R557-thousand with Dean Wight raising just over R400-thousand of those funds for the Hillcrest Aids Centre Trust, and being the Top Charity Fundraiser for the third consecutive year.

Freeman added, “In the spirit of the Comrades Marathon, every runner is a winner, therefore in my opinion, every charity becomes a winner too. On a daily basis I am taken aback by the commitment and passion that drives our six official Amabeadibeadi charities to deliver on their mandate and go the extra mile. The effort, time and commitment by these do-gooders is nothing short of phenomenal.”

CMA Chairperson, Cheryl Winn says, “Thank you to each one of you. Given that Covid-19 disrupted many of our plans, we still managed to achieve a lot and were able to once again demonstrate that Comrades Marathon Runners care. I hope that we will achieve a whole lot more as we work towards the 2021 Comrades centenary celebrations.”

CMA General Manager, Keletso Totlhanyo says, We salute each and every runner who has donated to our fundraising drive as well as all of the official charities who give of their best on a daily basis to make our country a better place.”

The CMA has produced a video to reflect the wonderful work of our Amabeadibeadi charities, including messages from the CMA and the respective charity representatives. Watch the handover video here: https://youtu.be/GG5RpXhYwN4b