Breaking News: Comrades to take CTM’s October race date in 2026

[For anyone late to the party, this article was published on 1 April as an April Fool’s joke – but it does provide a satirical commentary on the South African road running scene.]

In a surprise move, Comrades have announced that they will be moving their 2026 race date to the October slot recently vacated by Cape Town Marathon (CTM). Comrades has traditionally been run on the second Sunday in June which would be three weeks after CTM’s new 23 May race date.

A source from within Comrades House explained that there were a large number of benefits with the new October race date, “Firstly it allows Cape Town Marathon to remain as our number one qualifying event.” He continued, “They [CTM] might be gunning for World Marathon Major status but they need to know their place in the South African running hierarchy and stay in their lane. Cape Town Marathon will always be seen as a great qualifier marathon for Comrades and we want to keep it that way.”

READ MORE: Save the Date (An evaluation of Cape Town Marathon’s date change)

However, another major Cape Town race was not happy with the change. Comment from the Two Oceans Marathon was, “This move totally screws us. Our event started as a long training run for Comrades and that’s how the running community still sees us – how are we going to survive with this new date? We’ve had all our eggs in one basket and now it’s like someone cancelled Easter and killed the Easter Bunny. We can’t even blame the City of Cape Town this time.”

Another Two Oceans source was more blasé about the change, “For a long time the half marathon has been our focus. The ultra marathon is really an afterthought these days. In fact we have an unwritten rule that anyone who has run the ultra marathon cannot stand for the Two Oceans Chair or Vice Chair positions. Although I like to wear ultra marathon t-shirts, I’ve never run an ultra marathon myself and I really don’t see why anyone would want to when you can just enter the 20km category at an ultra trail event and tell everyone that you’re an ‘ultra runner’.”

READ MORE: What a Mess! (A Two Oceans Communication Breakdown)

When I asked my Comrades source about the potential drop in Gauteng runner numbers because they would need to do peak training through the harsh Highveld winter, he said, “Well Gauteng runners only make up a minority 42% of our entry numbers so we don’t think it will have a big impact. Besides, our projections show that with the declining rand and rampant inflation we more than expect to make up that number with an influx of foreign runners.”

A former Comrades Race Manager agreed, “Gauteng runners are soft – they are the province with by far the most joggers.  KwaZulu Natal runners never complain about running in winter.” He then pointed out, “With Trump’s policy of ignoring scientists and cancelling environmental programs coupled with Gwede Mantashe’s fixation on coal for South Africa’s energy problems, we can expect climate change to accelerate rapidly which will make running in Joburg in July the equivalent of training in the current British summer.”

The source then shifted attention to providing home ground advantage to South African runners against the increasingly competitive international onslaught, “The South African running calendar revolves around Comrades so most of our marathons are run in the heat. We are just following the same successful approach of the Indian Cricket Board and rigging the system to heavily favour our own athletes. In Europe, America, Australia and Cape Town they have health and safety laws against running in the high temperatures. They can only train in much cooler conditions – they don’t stand a chance in the Durban heat. Especially the Russians, that is a very cold country – you can’t just pop a pill or get an injection and be able to run in hot and humid conditions.”

Another benefit is that there is much more daylight in October, this allows elderly runners to sleep in a little longer and not be as cranky on race morning. This is supported by stats showing that the average age of the Comrades runner has steadily increased every year, “Everyone talks about Karens but grumpy old men are far worse. The abuse that some of our volunteers have endured from grumpy old men is deeply disturbing. We are hoping that an extra hour or two of sleep will make for a much pleasanter race experience for everyone.”

Castle Lite recently signed on as a race sponsor. Responding to rumours that SABMiller had influenced the decision, hoping that hotter October weather would lead to increased beer sales, the response was, “Whilst it’s true that we’ve gone from Bavaria Alcohol Free to Castle Lite as our beverage sponsor – and we may well even offer proper beer at some stage in the future – our market research shows that Comrades runners drink a lot of beer regardless of the weather.”

Athletics South Africa (ASA) were jubilant about the later race date, “We’ve set a target date of 31 March 2026 to sort out our registration problems with the CIPC but that date is already in danger because someone is going to have into dig deep in their (or someone else’s) back pockets to sort this out. Meanwhile, as we do not currently legally exist while deregistered, we know that our 13% ‘mafia protection tax’ on entries for the 2025 event and the TV rights are long gone. The October date gives us an extra four months to get our house of cards in order for 2026.”

READ MORE: Update on ASA Deregistration / Paid ASA contactor, Modern Athlete, Heavily Criticised

Local administrators also seemed pleased with the change. A Scottish sounding respondent from KwaZulu Natal Athletics (KZNA) called wee-Stevie McArsey was jubilant, “Best news ever! We’ve got a ton of legal debt to pay off and this gives us the opportunity to set up our own ‘locals only’ Comrades race in June.”

READ MORE: The Idiots Guide to the Domicilium Rule (also applicable to KZNA & interim CMA Board members)

One final benefit is that Comrades hope the new date will lead to more female participants (who have been languishing at just under 20% for many years), “October is the month with the lowest birth rate so our new race date prevents female runners from getting pregnant just to avoid running Comrades.” Furthermore, “We’ve listened to our female runners who arrived at our Comrades Boot Camps and were disappointed to find out that this had nothing to do with trying on high-end, fashion branded footwear. We will now be partnering with Jimmy Choo to develop a fashion boot especially designed for women whose blackened toenails are badly damaged and falling off.”

The move to attract more female runners, combined with the theme of a hotter October run, has resulted in the 2026 race slogan being confirmed early. It will be “Uma ungamelana nokushisa, phuma ekhishini” (“If you can take the heat, get out of the kitchen”) with the alternate phrasing “Uma ungakwazi ukumelana namahlaya, phuma ku-inthanethi.”

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