Humorous Anecdotes, Observations & Accounts of Marathon Running & Agile Adventures.
This article provides detailed information on all South Africa’s September 2026 marathons including race descriptions and recommendations. You can find the full 2026 marathon / ultra calendar here.
A summary of your choices is below:
Many tears are shed during an ultra marathon. Many tears are shed after an ultra marathon. However, Comrades is the only race that is able to open the waterworks before the starting gun even fires.
Dave Williams has been there to hear it all. From Max Trimborn’s iconic rooster crow (including the last time he performed it live in 1980) to the introduction of Chariots of Fire in 1985 to the addition of the National Anthem as democracy dawned in 1994 to the spontaneous eruption of Shosholoza the following year.
On June 14 we’ll get to hear Max Trimborn’s recorded rooster crow, the emotional strings of Chariots of Fire, the pride of Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika and the rousing chorus of Shosholoza. A lot of things have been added to the Comrades start over the years but one thing will be missing from the Comrades start line for the first time in over 50 years… Dave Williams.
This is a guest blog by award winning Swedish journalist Daniel Westergren. The article has been translated from Swedish. The original article can be found here: https://ultramarathon.se/artiklar/comrades-2026-starkaste-faeltet-nagonsin
The world’s oldest and largest ultramarathon, the Comrades Marathon in South Africa, takes place for the 99th time on Sunday. The men’s field is the best ever, with 7 of the 10 fastest 100 km runners of all time up against all the best South Africans.
The first edition of the Comrades Marathon was held in 1921. Thirty-four men ran from Pietermaritzburg to Durban, in memory of the soldiers who served in the First World War. In 1923 the first woman, Frances Hayward, took part, and in 1935 the first Black runner, Robert Mtshali. But neither of their times was recorded, as the race was open only to white men. It was not until 1975 that both women and runners of colour were welcomed.
Continue reading “The True Full List of Comrades 2026 Contenders”
Clear your calendar on Sunday 14 June, the greatest ultra marathon on the planet is about to get the greatest live coverage – and it’s all available completely free worldwide on YouTube. You might have struggled to stay awake during the Avatar sequels but you’ll be riveted to the screen on the best Sunday of the year with 14 hours of uninterrupted Comrades coverage.
YouTube Live Direct Link: https://www.youtube.com/live/tYkUELS-Fps
Continue reading “Chasing the Gun: The Ultimate Human Race Just Got the Ultimate Broadcast”
I am a well-trained husband. It’s taken the better part of 20 years but I am now mostly domesticated and largely housebroken.
My wife Kathy ran the 2007 Down run. I seconded her that year. It was hard work and a stressful job. She got out of running the 2008 Up run (just before doing her long run I should add) by falling pregnant. Kathy ran several more marathons and Two Oceans ultras but never felt the urge to return to Comrades.
This article is being updated continually in the build-up to Comrades 2026. After 14 June I will start with stats on elite men and women, full field, etc. in separate articles.
Continue reading “Comrades 2026: Startline Stats”
[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 joint statement, Comrades and Two Oceans announced that they would be doing away with qualification marathons and the need for South African athletes to qualify at their respective 2027 events. International athletes would still need to submit a qualifier. This comes after the announcement of a new AI running database called KONA (an acronym for Knowledge Of National Athletes) that has been “fully tested and implemented”.
AI KONA’s engine will automatically evaluate results databases and Strava profiles to determine which athletes are most likely to finish each race and will automatically select those athletes in the ballot system. The developers believe that the system is over 99.9% accurate at predicting whether or not a specific runner will finish within the cutoff time.
Continue reading “AI to replace qualifiers at 2027 Comrades & Two Oceans Marathons”
With unprecedented demand and road running race entries selling out across the country scammers are having a field day fleecing runners desperate for entries.
It is difficult to know whether all the scamming is done by one person using different numbers or whether there are multiple scammers. Some numbers definitely belong to the same person and there is at least one number, 0738823545, that has been in use for over six years. It is also difficult to estimate how many people have been scammed over the years but the number of victims is likely in the thousands.
Continue reading “Anatomy of a Scam (An investigation into race entry scamming)”
Below is a list of South African mobile numbers confirmed to be involved in race entry scamming. Their modus operandi is to create fake profiles on Facebook so there is no point in listing the names as they are fake and will keep changing.
This list will be updated as new scamming numbers emerge – feel free to email me on therunningmann@gmail.com or DM on my social media profiles with scammer details.
Continue reading “A List of Known Race Entry Scammers”
This article provides detailed information on all South Africa’s March 2026 marathons including race descriptions and recommendations. You can find the full 2026 marathon / ultra calendar here.
A summary of your choices is below:
