ROAD TO 100: Comrades Marathon Centenary edition — an entries explainer

The Comrades Marathon is preparing for a historic and jubilant celebration of its storied history, with its Centenary edition set to take place in under a year. First held in 1921, the Comrades Marathon is the world’s largest and oldest ultramarathon, annually alternating between the cities of Pietermaritzburg and Durban.

Now the 100th edition of the race is poised to attract a historic number of participants. To be precise, 28,070 runners from all walks of life have successfully applied to participate in the race. The marathon is scheduled to take place on Sunday, 13 June 2027.

There is no mistaking the appetite of marathoners for the historic event, both professional and recreational. A total of 56,283 entry submissions and ballot applications were received by the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) across the Centenary entry process.

The 100th Comrades

The Comrades alternates the “up run” and “down run”. The latter takes participants from Pietermaritzburg to Durban, while the former happens in the opposite direction. The Centenary race will be the down run, which will also be celebrating its 50th anniversary.

“We are thrilled and humbled by the extraordinary response from the running community, both locally and internationally,” Comrades race director Sue Forge said.

“We thank every runner who has secured an entry or applied for the opportunity to participate in the Centenary edition.

“This is set to be the largest Comrades Marathon ever staged and an unforgettable celebration for our runners, spectators, volunteers and sponsors. We now look forward to the months ahead as preparations continue for this historic race.”

High demand

The entry process ran from 25 August to 22 September, with three entry windows. The first window gave green number holders (athletes with 10 or more Comrades medals), as well as yellow numbers (those with nine medals and who will be going for green) an exclusive opportunity to enter first.

The CMA said this was a “reward for their proven commitment to the race” over the years. This window had 4,566 applications. At the same time, a limited number of charity-related applications were made available. These guaranteed entries required a compulsory charitable contribution of R10,000 per entry, in addition to the applicable entry fee. A total of 1,018 of these entries were secured.

In 2026, the CMA raised just over R7-million via this charity drive, which was distributed among six organisations benefiting. At next year’s race, they are already poised to surpass this mark.

The second entrance window was reserved for CMA members who had signed up for an annual membership of the association by 18 August 2026.

This early entry window was a nod of thanks to those who have signed up to become more involved in the Comrades Marathon. A total of 7,897 entries were secured in this window. Together, the entry windows accounted for 13,481 confirmed entries ahead of the general ballot process, which was the third and final opportunity to be part of history.

This window attracted 42,802 applications. After accounting for the 13,481 entries already secured through the protected entry windows, 14,519 places were available for allocation.

Further participation opportunities

Since there would likely be an outcry from people who missed out, Comrades stressed that the draw “was conducted under independent audit supervision and in accordance with the approved ballot criteria”.

“Further entry opportunities may also become available through the official withdrawal and substitution process in 2027. The details of this entry window will be shared at a later date,” Forge said.

While the majority of the field will once again be South African, the percentage of entries from the rest of Africa and beyond have increased quite substantially.

A bigger swing is seen in the gender breakdown, where the percentage of female entrants increased by 7.5%.

“Growing female participation is an important strategic priority for the CMA, and we are encouraged that women account for almost 30% of the 2027 field – the largest ever female participation in the history of the race.

Beyond securing an entry, we want to support more women through their preparation and onto the start line,” Forge said.

As in previous years, the most common age group in the 2027 field will be 40 to 49, followed by 50 to 59. There are also 14 entrants in their eighties, with the oldest being 88. DM