Comrades Marathon looking into concerns raised by runners at 2023 event

The Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) is going to investigate concerns raised by runners in this year’s 96th Comrades Marathon, according to a press release posted by Runners’ Guide to Races in South Africa.

The race, which was held on Sunday 11 June, has been criticised for the cut-off times at Pinetown and Sherwood which were reduced from its usual 11h10 to 11h00 to account for the reduced distance (less than 2.2km).

None were as vocal as The Running Mann, whose article ‘Comrades Cut-off Debacle’ went viral. In it, he said there was no Cinderella fairytale finish (with no runners when the final pistol cut-off went off) and that “someone out there deserves the Giant Pumpkin Award for robbing hundreds of runners of their Comrades medal”.

On Facebook, The Running Mann said: “2023 saw the most flaccid finish in Comrades’ 102-year history. Who is responsible for this cock-up and how did it happen?” He says that with a “more sensible cutoff times at Pinetown and Sherwood we may well have seen another record broken in 2023”.

CMA Chairperson, Mqondisi Ngcobo (who was holding that pistol) said today:

“The CMA Board has noted runners’ concerns. We will be conducting Race Organising Committee portfolio debriefs in the coming weeks. We will look at all aspects of the race, from the Start and Route to the Finish.

“Our race has always been about putting Runners First and once we have finalized our debriefs, taking into account some of the concerns that our runners have raised, we will implement those recommendations which are aimed at improving our race offerings in 2024 and beyond.”

This year’s marathon had the seventh highest finisher rate in the history of the 102-year old ultramarathon. The Running Mann attributes this to the cool weather, shortest time ever between 2 Comrades (about 9 months), and the shorter route.