Bill Rowan Archives - The Running Mann

5th September 20255th September 2025

Comrades 2025: Full Field Stats

This is part of a series of statistics articles on Comrades 2025. Other articles published: entry stats, shoe s t ats, qualification marathon stats, elite men, elite women.

From the Cradle to the Grave

The graph below is a hurricane funnel answering the often-asked question, “What happens to all the entries?”, plotting the fate of the 24,173 Comrades 2025 entries. There was a 6% attrition rate on qualification and 13.2% to get to the start line. This is significantly lower than in recent years with the more relaxed qualification times playing a role.

I’ve included three percentages for comparison – they are based on total entries, total starters and total finishers respectively (e.g. 3.2% of entries finish under 7h30, 3.6% of starters and 4.2% of medallists). A much more detailed analysis on the medal breakdowns as well as overall finish success rates comparisons are available later within this article.

22nd August 202522nd August 2025

Comrades 2025: Elite Women’s Stats

This is part of a series of statistics articles on Comrades 2025. Other articles published: entry stats, shoe s t ats, qualification marathon stats, elite men. Other articles to come: full field and statistics.

All Time Fastest Down Times & Pace

The tables below show the all-time Comrades Down run pace and time charts. I place more emphasis on pace.

Gerda was made to work for her win today but is still in a class of her own. She now has the top two positions on the pace chart. Gerda can thank Ann Ashworth for an extra R500k prize money breaking the fastest ever pace record (one of the many innovations Ashworth introduced in 2024). Morozova would have won almost any other year but has to settle for second and the third fastest down pace.

21st August 202521st August 2025

Comrades 2025: Elite Men’s Stats

This is part of a series of statistics articles on Comrades 2025. Other articles published: entry stats, shoe s t ats, qualification marathon stats. Other articles to come: elite women, elite men and full field statistics.

All Time Fastest Down Times & Pace

The tables below show the all-time Comrades Down run pace and time charts. I place more emphasis on pace.

Only the podium finishers from the class of 2025 make it onto the fastest 30 all-time Down runners by pace: Dijana in 5^th, Wiersma just behind in 6^th and Volkov in 22^nd. Wiersma just behind Dijana is becoming a pattern and the two occupy four spaces in the Top 6.

1st February 202512th May 2026

Comrades 2024 Full Field Stats

This is part of a tetralogy of articles providing an in-depth statistical analysis of Comrades 2024. The articles on Elite Men, Elite Women and Start Line Stats are already available.

From the Cradle to the Grave

The graph below is a hurricane funnel answering the often-asked question, “What happens to all the entries?”, plotting the fate of the 24,094 Comrades 2024 entries. There was a 21.6% attrition rate to get to the start line which is very similar to the most recent Up runs in 2017 (20.8%) and 2019 (22.4%). However, almost 94% of starters crossed the finish line (although 350 of these did so over 12 hours).

The three percentages are based on total entries, starters and finishers respectively (e.g. 3.6% of entries finish under 7h30, 4.5% of starters and 4.9% of medallists). There is more detailed analysis on the medal breakdowns as well as overall finish success rates comparisons later in this article.

Note: The finisher numbers are for all people earning that medal or better. For example, the ‘Vic Clapham’ 17305 are all finishers (i.e. 12 hours or better) and the ‘Bronze’ 11398 is everyone finishing 11 hours or better (i.e. it includes all Bronze, RM, BR, etc. medals).

8th December 202424th January 2025

Comrades 2024: Women’s Elite Stats

All Time Fastest Up Times & Pace

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!

5th December 20245th December 2024

Comrades 2024: Men’s Elite Stats

All Time Fastest Up Times & Pace

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 15^th. 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.

30th May 202330th May 2023

Comrades 2018 (Full statistical analysis)

How The 2018 Men’s Comrades Down Run Was Won

In the men’s race, it’s all fun and games until well after the halfway mark at split five, the Winston Park – Pinetown split. This is where all eventual top five finishers run their fastest segment and sorts out the real contenders for the Comrades crown from the pretenders.

From Pinetown there are just five real challengers for the win (with Steven Way behind as a possible sixth). Bongmusa Mthembu turns on the gas and no one else comes close to match him over the last 21km – where he runs the fastest final two splits in the field.

There was a lot of talk about Steven Way’s strong finish but interesting to note that Bongmusa Mthembu was faster than him in all seven splits (and still significantly so over last two splits).

25th May 202323rd June 2023

Comrades 2022 Overall / Full Field Race Stats

This is part of a trilogy of articles providing an in-depth statistical analysis of Comrades 2022. The articles on Elite Men and Elite Women are also available.

Getting to the Start

The graph below is a hurricane funnel answering the often-asked question, “What happens to all the entries?”

16479 enter, 1688 don’t bother to submit a qualifier, 661 don’t make it to registration, 916 collect their race pack but don’t start and 1503 fall on the road to Durban leaving us with 11711 Comrades 2022 finishers.

Note: The finisher numbers are for all people earning that medal or better. For example, the ‘Vic Clapham’ 11711 are all finishers (i.e. 12 hours or better) and the ‘Bronze’ 7632 is everyone finishing 11 hours or better (i.e. it includes all Bronze, RM, BR, etc. medals).

18th May 202325th May 2023

Comrades 2022 Elite Male Stats

This is part of a trilogy of articles providing an in-depth statistical analysis of Comrades 2022. Also see the articles on Elite Women and Overall / Full Field statistical analysis (coming soon).

The Gold Standard

The male Gold pace per split graph is quite different from the female side of the field (see previous article). Over the first few splits, the frontrunning is done by a few TV runners (who fade fast and don’t feature in this graph) but the serious contenders stick together until the halfway mark at Drummond. Seven of the ten Golds are still together at Winston Park after which the fastest split of the race into Pinetown separates the good from the great.

From Pinetown, the only podium position in question is third with Dan Moselakwe eventually claiming it. Tete Dijana runs the fastest split in the field to Sherwood and further extends his lead to the finish line in Moses Mabhida – although he’s only the second fastest over the final split. The fastest final split belongs to 11th placed finished Gordon Lesetedi who just can’t reel in Lutendo Mapoto for the final Gold.

Tete Dijana ran the fastest split in the field to Sherwood to pull ahead of the rest of the field (photo courtesy of Marathonfoto.com)

18th May 202325th May 2023

Comrades 2022 Elite Female Stats

This is part of a trilogy of articles providing an in-depth statistical analysis of Comrades 2022. Also see the statistical analysis articles on Elite Men and Overall / Full Field (coming soon).

The Gold Standard

The graph below shows the average pace between each timing mat for the top ten. Adele Broodryk makes an early move between Lynnfield Park and Cato Ridge (one of only two splits where a female runner dips below 4min/km) but she can’t hold the pace through halfway.

The big (and definitive) move usually happens between Winston Park and Pinetown in the down run this year is no different. Morozova smashes the fastest pace of the race (3:52) and, although she slows on the Sherwood split (which includes Cowies Hill), she extends her lead with no one else coming close to matching her.