Loading...
Ultras · ZA · KwaZulu-Natal

Comrades Marathon

99th Comrades Marathon, 50th Up Run
Ran · this year's race is done.
The 99th running, and the 50th Up Run from Durban to Pietermaritzburg.
Race dateJune 14, 2026
Start5:00am
When87 days ago
First held1921
Official website Results Aid stations Notify me if this race changes
Free, and always will be. NavRun makes money from race-day planning for runners who want it, never from this. Ultras change constantly, sometimes the morning of. Always confirm with the race director and the official website before you rely on anything here.
Distance 85.777K
Climb not checked yet
Descent not checked yet
High point not checked yet
Time limit 12:00:00
Aid stations 62
Started 20349
Finished 18276
Finish rate 90%
The course

Where it goes point to point · 62 aid stations

The 2026 course is the Up Run, 85.777km from outside the Durban City Hall to the Hollywoodbets Scottsville Racecourse in Pietermaritzburg. It is tarred road the whole way, up the N3 and the M13 out of Durban and then along the R103 Old Main Road, closed to all non-accredited traffic for the day. Forty-nine refreshment stations line the route, manned by about five thousand volunteers, handing out water sachets, energy drink and Coke. This was the 50th Up Run and the shortest one in the recorded history of the race.

The whole route is tarred public road. The official route map profile names the rises in order: Berea, Westville, Cowies Hill, Pinetown, Fields Hill, Winston Park, Botha's Hill, Drummond, Inchanga, Cato Ridge Subway, Camperdown, Umlaas Road, Little Polly's and Polly Shortts. The refreshment chart puts the highest point of the route just before the station at 68.8km, past the Umlaas Road intersection. The Comrades Marathon Association describes the Up Run as traditionally less punishing than the Down Run, and at 85.777km the 2026 route was the shortest Up Run in the recorded history of the race, 133 metres shorter than the 2024 Up Run.

The race

What this one is

The Comrades Marathon runs between Durban and Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal, on tarred public road closed to traffic for the day, and it has been run since 1921. The direction alternates: the Up Run climbs from Durban to Pietermaritzburg, and the next year the Down Run comes back the other way. Every runner gets 12 hours from their own start gun, and the field is more than twenty thousand strong. South Africa calls it The Ultimate Human Race, and it is the oldest and biggest ultramarathon in the world.

Vic Clapham came home from the Great War and wanted a way to honour the men who did not. He borrowed a pound from the Comrades of the Great War association and put on a race between Pietermaritzburg and Durban on 24 May 1921. Forty-eight men entered, thirty-four started, and sixteen finished inside 12 hours. Bill Rowan won in 8h59m, which is still the slowest winning time, and the Bill Rowan medal was named for him in 2000. The early fields ran on gravel roads caked in up to five centimetres of dust, with no refreshment stations, and stopped at hotels and taverns along the way for water. The route was fully tarred by 1931. The race has been run nearly every year since, apart from five years during the Second World War and two years during the COVID pandemic. The 2027 edition will be the 100th.

Getting in

Getting in Entry, lottery and what the race asks of you before race day.

Lottery
not checked yet
Lottery opens
not checked yet
Lottery draw
not checked yet
Field cap
22000 comrades.com
Registration
Race website comrades.com
Qualifying
Every runner had to complete at least one qualifying race between 9 June 2025 and 4 May 2026. The qualifier had to be technically compliant under Athletics South Africa and no shorter than 42.2km. The standards are 4:59:59 for 42.2km, 5:59:59 for 48km, 6:09:59 for 50km, 6:29:59 for 52 to 54km, 6:59:59 for 56km, 7:39:59 for 60km, 8:14:59 for 64km, 10:34:59 for 80km, 11:59:59 for 90km and 13:34:59 for 100km. Only official published results count, so a Garmin or Strava file is not accepted. comrades.com
Minimum age
20 comrades.com
Transfers
Yes comrades.com
Deferrals
No comrades.com
Crew access, pacers and drop bags

The rules that shape your day Anything marked "not checked yet" is a gap in what we hold, never a no from the race.

Crew allowed
Yes comrades.com
Vehicles per runner
not checked yet
Pacers
No comrades.com
Muling
not checked yet
Drop bags
not checked yet
Cupless
not checked yet
Course marking
Fully Marked comrades.com
Night running
not checked yet
Dogs
not checked yet
Headphones
Not allowed comrades.com
Crew rules
Supporters may hand a runner refreshments or race nutrition from a stationary position anywhere along the route. Nobody may drive, cycle or run alongside a runner, and no supporter may do so within 100 metres of a refreshment station. The route is closed to all non-accredited vehicles for the whole day, so supporters travel on parallel roads and cut back in towards the route on open access roads. The race publishes four official spectator points: Drummond, Inchanga, Cato Ridge and Camperdown. Clubs affiliated to Athletics South Africa may set up a maximum of three support stations along the route, and a club tent may be no bigger than 3m x 3m without written consent from the CMA. comrades.com
Pacer rules
No supporter may run alongside a runner and no outside pacing is permitted. The race accredits its own Pacesetters instead: entered runners who carry a flag with a target time and drive a "bus" anyone can join or leave at any point. In 2026 there were 26 of them, chosen from 144 applicants, covering sub-7:30 through sub-12:00 and spread across the three start groups. They are asked to keep their buses to one side of the road. Only official Pacesetters may carry a pacing flag. viewer.joomag.com
Drop bag rules
Biddulphs Removals runs a free tog bag service. Bags can be handed in at either race pack collection venue or in the start precinct on race morning, and are collected at the finish in the Runner Chill Zone on presentation of the tog bag sticker. No sticker, no bag. mosaic-cms.b-cdn.net
Cutoff philosophy
Cut-offs run on a traffic light system. Green means you are inside the pace you need for the distance still to go. Amber is a warning that you have reached the last reasonable pace and need to hold or improve it. Red is the cut-off, and a Runner Rescue Bus is waiting there to carry you to the finish. Every runner has 12 hours from their own group's gun, and all six on-route cut-off times are read off the last group's gun at 05h30, so a Group 1 runner reaches each one with thirty minutes of their earlier start still in hand, and a Group 2 runner with fifteen. comrades.com
Aid stations

Every stop, and what you get there ● yes   · no   ? nobody has checked   – does not apply to this race

Mile Station Cutoff Crew access Bag Pacer Med To next
0.00 Durban City Hall (start) ? ? ? ? ? 2.30
2.30 Durban Christian Centre Jesus Dome ? ? ? ? ? 1.49
3.79 Sparkport Franchise ? ? ? ? ? 1.86
5.65 Eskom Running Club ? ? ? ? ? 1.31
6.96 KZN Sharks Board ? ? ? ? ? 1.18
8.14 Childline KZN ? ? ? ? ? 1.93
10.07 Nashua ? ? ? ? ? 0.99
11.06 Avis Rent a Car ? ? ? ? ? 0.44
11.50 Pinetown Underpass (cut-off point) 8:35am ? ? ? ? 0.55
12.05 Statistics SA ? ? ? ? ? 1.25
13.30 Hypercheck ? ? ? ? ? 2.17
15.47 Flora ? ? ? ? ? 0.75
16.22 South African National Blood Service ? ? ? ? ? 1.68
17.90 Feedem Group ? ? ? ? ? 0.43
18.33 Winston Park (Caltex Garage) (cut-off point) 10:20am ? ? ? ? 0.56
18.89 Famous Brands ? ? ? ? ? 0.99
19.88 Orange Grove ? ? ? ? ? 0.56
20.44 Choc ? ? ? ? ? 0.62
21.06 Potato SA ? ? ? ? ? 0.63
21.69 Savino Del Bene ? ? ? ? ? 0.99
22.68 Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust ? ? ? ? ? 1.06
23.74 Brand SA ? ? ? ? ? 0.80
24.54 Area Military Health Unit KZN ? ? ? ? ? 0.81
25.35 uMngeni-Uthukela Water ? ? ? ? ? 0.93
26.28 Pedros Chicken ? ? ? ? ? 0.44
26.72 Drummond (Halfway) (cut-off point) 12:10pm ? ? ? ? 0.00
26.72 Drummond Spectator Point ? ● ? ? ? 0.56
27.28 THIRSTI ? ? ? ? ? 0.81
28.09 Runners of Hope ? ? ? ? ? 0.99
29.08 NPC Company ? ? ? ? ? 1.37
30.45 Inchanga Spectator Point ? ● ? ? ? 0.12
30.57 Dept of Sports, Arts & Culture ? ? ? ? ? 0.93
31.50 Santaco KZN ? ? ? ? ? 1.00
32.50 LifeLine ? ? ? ? ? 1.36
33.86 Rainbow Chicken ? ? ? ? ? 0.87
34.73 Makhathini Medical Waste ? ? ? ? ? 0.63
35.36 Cato Ridge (N3 subway) (cut-off point) 2:05pm ? ? ? ? 0.49
35.85 Icebolethu Group ? ? ? ? ? 0.19
36.04 Cato Ridge Spectator Point ? ● ? ? ? 1.12
37.16 Moth ? ? ? ? ? 1.18
38.34 SAN Parks Honorary Rangers ? ? ? ? ? 0.81
39.15 Camperdown Spectator Point ? ● ? ? ? 0.06
39.21 Cell C ? ? ? ? ? 0.87
40.08 Hulamin Operations ? ? ? ? ? 0.99
41.07 Liebherr-Africa ? ? ? ? ? 0.56
41.63 Umlaas Road (before new R56 intersection) (cut-off point) 3:25pm ? ? ? ? 0.19
41.82 Mr Price Sport ? ? ? ? ? 0.93
42.75 Sasol / Rompco ? ? ? ? ? 0.68
43.43 Department of Correctional Services ? ? ? ? ? 0.63
44.06 NAPTOSA ? ? ? ? ? 0.62
44.68 Omo ? ? ? ? ? 0.18
44.86 National Department of Health ? ? ? ? ? 0.31
45.17 Seals Swimming Club ? ? ? ? ? 0.63
45.80 Premier FMCG ? ? ? ? ? 0.86
46.66 Coca-Cola ? ? ? ? ? 0.87
47.53 Ethekwini Municipality ? ? ? ? ? 1.06
48.59 THIRSTI ? ? ? ? ? 0.56
49.15 Mkondeni (intersection Poinsettia Road & Shortts Retreat Road) (cut-off point) 4:55pm ? ? ? ? 0.50
49.65 Rise Against Hunger Africa ? ? ? ? ? 1.24
50.89 The Witness ? ? ? ? ? 0.99
51.88 Community Chest DBN & PMB ? ? ? ? ? 1.42
53.30 Hollywoodbets Scottsville Racecourse (finish)
None · EMS
 ? ? ? ? ● ?
What it looks like out there

Somebody has been out there with a camera the tables say the climb is long. these say what long feels like.

17 people have been out there with a camera or a microphone.

Written race report

Never Say Never Again: 31 Years for the “one in your Green Number” run at Comrades

Written race report · 2026
Written race report

Marathon Nonni: Suzanne Koonce, Comrades’ Oldest Female Finisher

Written race report · 2026
35 min

Comrades Marathon 2026 - Return of the Novice

Vlog · 35 min · 2026
34 min

The Official Comrades Coach’s Brutally Honest Up Run Debrief

Analysis · 34 min · 2026
20 min

Comrades 2026 Up Run | My 1st Race DNF

DNF account · 20 min · 2026
14 min

COMRADES 2026 UPRUN - 1ST EXPERIENCE SHARED

First-timer's guide · 14 min · 2026
6h 18m

Comrades Marathon 2026 LIVE | Part 2 | 99th Edition | The Ultimate Human Race

Livestream replay · 6h 18m · 2026
7h 25m

Comrades Marathon 2026 LIVE | Part 1 | 99th Edition | The Ultimate Human Race

Livestream replay · 7h 25m · 2026

+ 9 more.

All (17) Course walkthrough (1) Documentary (1) Written race report (3) Vlog (1) First-timer's guide (1) DNF account (1) Interview (1) Analysis (2) Photo gallery (1) Audio podcast (2) Livestream replay (2) Official channel (1)

These are other people's work and we link straight to them. Watching costs nothing and needs no account. More of them: every race we hold, on film.

Add to this page

What you know every one of these is read by a person before it changes anything

Ran this race? Tell the next runner what you know.

Nobody sees it until we have read it. No account, no sign-in.

Leave blank if it applies to the whole race.

Leave blank if it is not about one particular stop.

Optional. Something like “Cal Street, mile 62 to 78”.

Write it the way you would say it to someone at the start line.

Optional, and it decides nothing. It only tells the next runner where this is coming from.

Optional.

Optional, and never shown on the page. Only so we can ask you a question about this note.

Leave this field blank.

See something wrong or out of date? Suggest an edit.

This changes nothing on the page on its own. Somebody checks it against the race first.

Optional. Filled in for you when you start from a specific line on the page.

Copy it as it appears, so we can find it.

The corrected value.

Required. Where it came from: the race email, the runner manual, what you saw on the day.

Optional.

Optional. A screenshot or a photo of the sign works.

Optional, and it decides nothing.

Optional.

Optional, only so we can come back to you about this correction.

Leave blank if it is about the whole race.

Leave blank if it is not about one particular stop.

Leave this field blank.

Seen a course preview or a film of this one? Send it over.

Somebody watches it before it goes anywhere near this page. What we are after is footage of this course, on the ground. If it would be just as true of any other race, it is not this.

Required. A line is plenty. Where the climbs are, what the footing does, what the last twenty miles look like.

Optional, and it decides nothing.

Optional.

Optional, and never shown on the page. Only so we can ask you a question about this one.

A YouTube link, a race report, a photo gallery, whatever it is.

Optional, and we credit them on the page.

Leave this field blank.

Have the GPX? Send us the link.

We want the address of the file the race publishes, not the file. We download it from there so the page can say where the line came from.

The page or file on the race's own site.

Optional, and only so we can ask you a question about it.

Are you the race director? Get in touch and we'll make it right.

We read every one of these and we write back. Every fact here carries the source it came from, and the way a wrong one gets fixed is a person checking it against what you tell us.

Required, because this is a conversation and we write back.

Tell us what is wrong, out of date, or missing on this page. We read every one of these and we will get back to you.

Optional.

So we know who we are writing back to.

Optional. Director, assistant, comms, whoever you are.

Leave this field blank.

Where this came from. Every fact on this page records its source and when we last checked it: 461 sources for this race. Hover a source link to read the sentence it came from.
45% of what we track for a course is filled in. The rest says "not checked yet" rather than guessing.
See something wrong or out of date? Suggest an edit
Ran this race? Tell the next runner what you know
Got footage of this course? Send us the link
Are you the race director? Get in touch and we'll make it right.
Anything else: [email protected]

Ultras change. We will tell you when this one does.

Cutoffs move, races get postponed, lotteries open and close. We read the race's own sources and record where every fact came from. Put your email in and we will send you what changed, and where we read it.

No account, and nothing to cancel.

What happens to your email. Nothing else. I do not sell it, and I will not send you anything except this race changing. One click gets you out.

I keep this catalog because the information is scattered and hard to trust. Telling you when it moves is the same job.

Ultras change. We will tell you when this one does.

Cutoffs move, races get postponed, lotteries open and close. We read the race's own sources and record where every fact came from. Put your email in and we will send you what changed, and where we read it.

No account, and nothing to cancel.

What happens to your email. Nothing else. I do not sell it, and I will not send you anything except this race changing. One click gets you out.

I keep this catalog because the information is scattered and hard to trust. Telling you when it moves is the same job.
Running this one?

NavRun builds your pacing from your own training, then turns it into a plan your crew can follow: when to leave and where to park.

Start free