Over 21,000 runners will tackle the 85.777km Comrades Marathon on June 14.
A week to go until the 99th edition of the Comrades Marathon on Sunday, June 14, when over 21,000 runners will tackle the 85.777km Ultimate Human Race from the Durban City Hall to Hollywoodbets Scottsville Racecourse in Pietermaritzburg.
This year’s Up Run is the shortest in recent history, mainly due to ongoing roadworks. It is 85.777km, compared with previous shortest race distance of 85.910km in 2024. The 2026 route is 133 metres shorter than 2024, which itself was 820 metres shorter than the 2019 Up Run of 86.730km.
Nearly all of the top 10 men and women from 2025 are set to return, with the exception of last year’s runner-up Alexandra Morozova. Defending champions Tete Dijana (three-time men’s winner) and Gerda Steyn (four-time women’s winner) will both line up again.
Having won the down run in 2022, 2023, and 2025, Dijana will be aiming for his first up run victory. The men’s and women’s winners will each earn R925,000.
