COUNTDOWN TO COMRADES 2025

We are just under a month away from race day for the 98th edition of the Ultimate Human Race. By now, you are probably starting to feel that tingle of nerves mixed with excitement as the countdown clock in your head starts beeping ever louder, but don’t worry… you’ve got this! The Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) and all the race staff and volunteers are hard at work with final preparations for Sunday 8 June, and we will be bringing you more updates in this newsletter and on our website and social media platforms in the next few weeks.
 
IT'S GETTING CLOSER AND CLOSER!    

There will be some big announcements in coming days about final seedings and start procedures for what is set to be the biggest Down Run in Comrades Marathon history. Our team is making really good headway in processing all the final qualification info from our entrants, and allocating runners to seeding batches, so watch your mails and messages for your seeding details. We will make sure that you have all the info you need in the next few days, so that you can start making your final racing plans.

Click here for all the information

COMRADES MARATHON RUNNERS INVITED TO APPLY FOR ELITE & CONTENDER SEEDING

As the highly anticipated 2025 Comrades Marathon on Sunday 8 June draws closer, the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) is finalising the athlete seeding for the two start groups. While most runners will be seeded based on their qualifying times, a select few will receive special seeding allocations, as Elites or Contenders, positioning them at the front of Group 1 as contenders for major awards.

• Athletes who believe they are fast enough to challenge for the podium in any of the following categories are therefore invited to apply for an ‘upgraded’ seeding in the following categories (all for both men and women):
• Elite Athletes: The best of the best – those vying for the overall win or top 10 gold medal positions. (NB - please note that the Male Marathon Qualifying time for Elite is still under 2:30:00)
• Age Group Contenders: The fastest amongst the 40-49, 50-59, 60-69 and 70+ age categories, competing for a top-three finish in their age category or the number one spot in the 70+ category.
• Regional Awards: The first South Africans to cross the finish line, and the top three KwaZulu-Natal finishers (provided they finish within the top 30 men or women).
• First Novice Athletes: The highest placed athletes who are completing their first Comrades Marathon.
• Age Prize Contenders: The Comrades Marathon also has trophies for the oldest and youngest finishers, which will be awarded to both male and female categories for the first time this year.

Each of these categories has minimum qualifying standards (see below) and if athletes believe that they are eligible to be upgraded to either the Elite or Contender seeding categories, they (or their team/club manager) are invited to submit their application to entries@comrades.com . Note that the application period is from 13 May 2025 to 19 May 2025, and they will be informed by 24 May 2025 if their application has been accepted or rejected.

Click here for all the information

COMRADES MARATHON ANNOUNCES EXTENDED, RUNNER-FRIENDLY ROUTE CUT-OFF TIMES

After a careful consultative process, the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) has released the cut-offs that will be applied along the route for the 98th edition of the race on Sunday 8 June. These 2025 cut-offs introduce a completely different approach by the CMA, with the cut-off times designed to avoid negatively impacting any runners who have qualified for the race and are capable of reaching the finish in 12 hours or less on race day.

“Although there will be two starts on race morning, at 5:45am and 6am, there will only be one set of cut-off times that come into effect after the second start at 6am. The good news for the runners at the back of the field is that the staggered start will save them up to five minutes,” says CMA General Manager Alain Dalais.

“The cut-offs are designed around the dismantling of race operations, cleaning up the route and the re-opening of the roads to traffic, but generous times have been given at each cut-off point, and runners who have not passed through a cut-off in time will be unable to continue the race. Safety is paramount, and we cannot allow runners who simply want to carry on to make that decision, hence they will be required to stop by these times.”

New-look Cut-offs

The average pace required for a 12-hour finish for the total 89.98km race distance is eight minutes per kilometre (8:00/km), and the most notable aspect of the 2025 cut-offs is that not one of the 2025 intermediate cut-off points will require runners to maintain this pace. In fact, runners will be given generous time limits to reach the first few cut-off points: Over 10:00/km pace to Cato Ridge (30.5km), and just short of 9:00/km to halfway in Drummond (45km), thus placing less pressure on runners to go faster than comfortable in the first half. This will make it possible for runners to employ a negative splits strategy, conserving energy in the first half in order to run faster and stronger in the second half.

Click here for more information

4th Annual West Rand Half Marathon

Nedbank Running Club Soweto hosted a successful 4th Annual West Rand Half Marathon on Easter Sunday 20th April 2015 In Greenhills Stadium. The race managed to attract over 1200 athletes across 5, 10 and 21km races.

The 5km was a fun run race. The 10km double lapper proved to be a fast route for our athletes, we were graced to have had 3 former Olympians gracing our event. Sibusio Nzima running took the lead in the 10km race after 2km to win the race in 31:45. In the women's race the pole position was taken by Lebo Mzazi.

In the 21km,Halfway down the race, 4 nedbank athletes, Tiisetso Makhoma, Namakoe Nkhasi, Kabelo Melamu ran like real team mates as they went for the 2nd lap, they sticked together till the 19th km, that is where Tiisetso(1:07:00) surged all the way to the finished chased hard by Namakoe, Kabelo and Elliot to finish those respective positions. It was a Nedbank clean sweep on the podium.

Cornelia Joubert took the pole position in the 21km (1:23:41) and Nedbank's Tebogo Mokgosinyane finished 3rd and 1st vet.

We look forward to hosting the 5th Annual WRM Race on the 5 April 2026.

We are excited to announce that we partnered with DOTWATCH.

Now you don’t have to worry where your family members or friends is on the route while doing a running or cycling event.

You will know exactly how they are progressing and when they can expect at the finish line.

Dotwatch, a new tracking App which allows friends and family to follow athletes on a GPX route file during races. The app also enables them to send messages, photos, and short videos to their followers while they are participating in the event.

Just click on the links below.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bisnetis.dotwatch 

MCDONALD'S 2 MCDONALD'S YOUTH DAY 10KM - 16 JUNE 2025