Over 22,000 runners took on the challenge of running from Pietermaritzburg to Durban on Sunday at the Comrades Marathon.
The down run this year was held in good running conditions, with the risk of rain around 10%. From the outset the focus was on the title contenders in the men’s and women’s races, which was Piet Wiersma and Gerda Steyn.
However, the majority of the race was about the hordes of regular runners who put in herculean efforts in attempt to cross the finish line in the gruelling ultra-marathon.
Here are five things that were looked out for at the Comrades Marathon over the weekend.
Chariots of Fire at the start
As is tradition, the song Chariots of Fire by Vangelis played on the loudspeaker system at the start just before the gun is fired. It’s always a stirring and inspiring moment which brings the anticipation to a crescendo, before each runner sets off on their Comrades journey.
Commentators telling us how far 90km is
It’s understandable that during a broadcast over more than 12 hours, commentators run out of things to talk about at times. However, it’s always particularly irritating when the commentators try to explain how far Comrades are, how it’s more than two regular marathons, and for bonus points, they might even once more tell us how many parkruns (5km) Comrades is like running in a row. It’s simply inane babble, and sometimes silence is golden.
The final hour of the race
This is where the real heart of the race lies. The runners that finish between 11 hours and the 12-hour cut-off are the ones who likely battle most to finish the race. These are not elite runners; these are people with regular jobs who somehow find the time to put in enough (or not enough) training just to simply cross the line. There will be many who crawl over the finish throughout the day, but the most come in this final hour.
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Updated: June 2025
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