ATHLETICS: Comrades changes lanes in a marathon governance dispute

Organisers are pressing ahead with centenary plans despite an ongoing impasse.

On 19 August, the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) officially launched the 2027 centenary edition of the iconic ultramarathon and currently the biggest changes appear to be taking place in the boardroom rather than on the road.

In the same week as the launch, Athletics South Africa (ASA) announced that it would not sanction the 2027 Comrades Marathon, marking the latest escalation in a months-long dispute between the organisers of South Africa’s most famous road race and the athletics authorities responsible for governing the sport.

The most immediate concern for prospective Comrades runners is qualification.

However, Mark Leathers, chairperson of the CMA, said there is “nothing logistically to worry about”, neither in the buildup to the race nor on race day.

“[ASA], KwaZulu-Natal Athletics [KZNA], Comrades – everyone’s in agreement that the CMA can legally host the race next year,” said Leathers. “From that aspect, whether or not the event is going ahead is unequivocally, on all fronts, a yes. It’s going ahead. With regard to everything else, things are largely remaining unchanged.”

The qualification period for the 2027 Comrades Marathon runs from 15 June 2026 to 3 May 2027.

Although runners may enter before qualifying, they must still complete an approved qualifying event and submit their qualifying details before the deadline.

The qualifying criteria remain the same, requiring runners to complete an officially timed standard marathon of 42.2km in under five hours.

Leathers said concerns that ASA’s decision could affect qualifying races were largely misplaced because almost all qualifying events are expected to remain sanctioned through provincial and national athletics structures. Last year there were 138 qualifying races.

“You still have to qualify. Almost 100% of your qualification marathons are going to remain as sanctioned events by the federations,” said Leathers.

According to Leathers, most races rely on federations for permissions and administration, whereas larger events require sanctioning to ensure that elite athletes can earn World Athletics ranking points. As a result, runners will still need licences and club affiliations to compete in most qualifying races, even though a licence is no longer required to enter or run the Comrades itself.

“Qualifiers are remaining sanctioned pretty much exclusively. For that you need to belong to a club; for that you need a licence,” he said. “The only difference is we’re not asking people in the entry process for licence numbers because you don’t need a licence to run Comrades now. But bear in mind, you still need the licence to have qualified.”

Entries for Green Number holders (10 or more Comrades medals) and Yellow Number holders (nine medals) opened on Tuesday, 25 August, with all 3,500 available entries selling out within three hours. By Wednesday, 792 of the 1,000 charity entries had also been sold.