Humorous Anecdotes, Observations & Accounts of Marathon Running & Agile Adventures.
All posts related to the Comrades Marathon
The tables below show the all-time women’s Comrades Up run pace and time charts. I place more emphasis on pace (especially as we had the shortest ever Comrades distance this year).
34-year-old Gerda Steyn replaces 29-year-old Gerda Steyn at the top of the table. Just how much better is Gerda than any other female on the Up run? An incredible 10.42 seconds per kilometre!
Continue reading “Comrades 2024: Women’s Elite Stats”
The tables below show the all-time Comrades Up run pace and time charts. I place more emphasis on pace (especially as we had the shortest ever Comrades distance this year).
Piet Wiersma and Dan Moselakwe both crack the Top 10 whilst Degefa Lafebo secures 15th. Joseph Manyedi and Andrew Davies also make it into the Top 30. Whilst 2024 sees the most finishers (5) in the Top 30, I’d still make a case for the 2000 being the most competitive men’s Up run of all time followed by 1998.
Continue reading “Comrades 2024: Men’s Elite Stats”
The 2024 Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) Annual General Meeting (AGM) got off to a slow start. The meeting was due to start at 10:00 and at 10:04 interim CMA Chair Jeff Minnaar got proceedings underway. After giving some special welcomes, he thanked CMA members for sacrificing their Black Friday weekend shopping excursions and promised they’d be able to get their discounted shopping fix around 12 noon. This seemed like an unlikely and overly optimistic estimate – and we had not even got to the first motion on the agenda by 12:30. Any doubts as to the validity of Minnaar’s estimation were further exacerbated with the announcement that the AGM would be delayed “for at least 15 minutes as there is a major traffic jam in Pietermaritzburg.”
This page will be used to provide live updates on the voting, motions and discussions from the 2024 Comrades Marathon Association Annual General Meeting due to start at 10am SAST. Refresh page for latest updates…
That’s over an out after an almost 8 hour AGM. I’ll write up a summary tomorrow.
Top five get two year terms, next two get a one year term. This is a great new Board!
Here’s the final results
Mark Leathers 278
Willie Mtolo 254
Mqondisi Ngcobo 240
Brenda Marolen 240
Carel Nolte 228
Rory Steyn 222
Alan Gray 207
Continue reading “CMA 2024 AGM: Live Blog”
Whilst most of the focus has been on the nominees for the seven available Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) Board position at the Annual General Meeting (AGM), there are some other important motions to be discussed and voted for at the 30 November meeting.
Below are details of the CMA constitutional amendment motions, standard motions and consideration for the financial statements.
Continue reading “What’s on the agenda? CMA AGM on 30 November”
The Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) Annual General Meeting (AGM) to be held on 30 November promises to be a watershed in the renaissance of the event that has been mired in controversies resulting from a string of illogical and inexplicable decisions in recent years and is still reeling from well-founded allegations of corruption, maladministration and ineptitude amongst certain staff and Board members.
Seven of the nine elected Board positions are up for election. Both Board incumbents who were standing for re-election have been withdrawn from the ballot: Sweetname Nkibande because he was not eligible as he is not a member in good standing and Celi Makhoba for reasons unknown. Therefore it will be a CMA Board with a very different composition for the 2025 event.
Continue reading “14 Names, 7 Positions: CMA Board elections on 30 November”
Overview: In a recent article, I provided well substantiated evidence about how Rowyn James facilitated highly irregular “Management Fee” payments to finish line volunteer Chris Lombard (who was also the seconder on James’ CMA Board nomination form). This follow-on article provides details of exactly how the allegedly fraudulent payments were done and how finish line casual labourers were exploited.
After allegations of fraudulent payments surfaced, Rowyn James had a conversation with former Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) Vice Chair and current Head of the Finance Committee, Les Burnard. In the conversation, James attempted to provide an explanation for the irregular “Management Fee” payments to volunteer Chris Lombard.
READ MORE: Systemic Corruption at Comrades: Former Manager made Irregular Payments & Assaulted Comrades Legend
James claimed that the payments to Lombard were ‘approved by the Board in 2018’. This was categorically denied by Cheryl Winn, the CMA Chairperson at the time. Board and Finance Committee minutes from 2018 have been checked and there is no record of any approval to pay Lombard. There is also no one I have spoken to within the CMA leadership structures who recalls any discussion about paying Lombard.
Continue reading “How James Jimmied the Comrades Books”
After Rowyn James was announced as one of the 21 nominees for the 7 vacant Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) Board positions, I received a tip off that, during his time as the Comrades Race Manager, James had made “secret” payments. The payments were made to Chris Lombard, a volunteer who was the finish line convenor, and were not sanctioned. Furthermore, Lombard was the seconder on James’ CMA Board nomination form.
READ MORE: Comrades Board nominees: A light at the end of the tunnel?
The source provided me with the names of 4 senior staff and stakeholders with whom I could verify that the illicit payments occurred. Three have confirmed that an irregular and unsanctioned 5-figure “Management Fee” was paid annually to Lombard. The fourth has read my messages but has not replied. One of the sources did explain that the payment would ‘need to have been signed off’ but could not explain the ‘serious irregularity’ of a volunteer being paid.
Continue reading “Systemic Corruption at Comrades: Former Manager made Irregular Payments & Assaulted Comrades Legend”
After all the controversy surrounding Board level corruption, maladministration and incompetence, the announced list of Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) Board nominees was eagerly anticipated.
The good news is that there is plenty of choice with 21 nominees for the 7 available Board positions including plenty of fresh blood amongst a handful of the usual suspects. I have grouped the nominees into three categories and provided some context below.
KZNA’s decision to oppose the High Court interdict securing all CMA members’ participation rights regardless of domicile is likely to cost the organisation around R500,000. The Comrades Marathon Association (CMA), on advice from their internal and external legal counsel, have already withdrawn their opposition unconditionally. In various media interviews, KZNA President Steve Mkasi has yet to provide a coherent reason for their opposition to the democratic process that has been followed at the CMA for 43 years without previous issue.
Continue reading “Constitution Flouted: More Bad Debts on the Way for KZNA?”