Durban – Athletes from 70 countries are streaming into KwaZulu-Natal where they will line up in Pietermaritzburg at the crack of dawn on Sunday for the start of the 95th Comrades Marathon.
They will have 12 hours – from 5.30am to 5.30pm – to complete the 89.885km down-run to Durban.
After months of blood, sweat and tears, the man and woman who finish in first place will each bag the sum of R260 000. Those who finish in second place will get R130 000 each. A third place win will net the tidy sum of R90 000 for each runner.
Apart from medals all those who finish in the top 10 will get money, with the finisher in 10th place pocketing a sum of R12 000.
David Gatebe set the men’s down-run record of 5 hours 18 minutes 19 seconds in 2016, while Frith van der Merwe set the women's record in 1989 with a time of 5:54:43.
The first Comrades marathon, which took place on May 24, 1921, was won by Bill Rowan in a time of 8:59.
The Comrades Marathon Association says Rowan, a 26-year-old farmer from the then Transvaal, recorded the slowest winning time for the ultra-marathon.
The association’s marketing manager, Delaine Cools, said they had organised and planned this year's race under the shadow of Covid-19.
However, they could now host an inclusive race after Covid-19 regulations and social distancing directives were lifted.
“Thankfully, we did not have to insist on all athletes being vaccinated. We also are able to allow visitors and families of runners to be part of the three-day Comrades Expo, and also allow supporters along the route where roadworks aren’t an issue,” said Cools.
Last week municipalities were still hard at work fixing potholes after at least 44 of them were found on the route.
The ongoing roadworks on the N3 will be stopped and the areas cordoned off several days before the start of the Comrades to ensure the safety of the runners and supporters.
The Comrades Marathon Expo kicks off at the Durban International Convention Centre on Thursday.
Cools said there would be six cut-off points along the Comrades route which runners would have to reach if they wanted to finish the race in the allotted time.
The Independent on Saturday