COMRADES MARATHON OFFICIALLY LAUNCHES 2026 RACE & CAMPAIGN

Ska Fela Moya – Don’t Give Up

The Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) today officially launched the 2026 edition of the iconic ultramarathon between Durban and Pietermaritzburg, which is set to take place on Sunday, 14 June 2026. With Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) administrators, sponsors, athletes, government officials, road running dignitaries and members of the media in attendance at Comrades House in Pietermaritzburg, the official launch also saw the unveiling of the 2026 race campaign, Ska Fela Moya, which is Setswana for Don’t Give Up. The winning slogan was chosen from over 200 submissions from the running community.

The launch programme included a tribute to the late Cheryl Winn, who passed away three days prior. The 1982 women’s winner remains the only former Comrades Marathon champion to become Chair of the CMA Board, and she was widely recognised as the matriarch of the event thanks to over 30 years’ devoted service to the Comrades Marathon. Having served as Chair from 2017 to 2021, she was still part of the Finance, Marketing & Membership, and Heritage & Traditions Committees, as well as the CMA Elders Committee, and her sudden passing is a devastating loss to the CMA family.

Getting Ready for 2026

The 2026 edition of the Comrades Marathon will follow the traditional Up Run route, starting in Durban and finishing in Pietermaritzburg, covering approximately 87 kilometres. (The exact distance will be announced once the route has been officially measured.) This will be the 50th time the race is run up to Pietermaritzburg, and will be the 99th overall edition of the race, which was first run in 1921. Many runners will be looking to use the 2026 race as a stepping stone to the 100th edition in 2027, which will include special centenary celebrations.

“The 2026 Comrades Marathon looks set to be another exciting edition of the world-famous ultramarathon, and we know that this launch is just the start of the excitement as we build up to hosting the next Up Run in about eight months,” says CMA Chairperson Mqondisi Ngcobo. “The CMA is committed to ensuring a safe and memorable experience for all participants, and we will have enhanced safety measures and support services in place, including medical assistance, refreshment stations, route marshals and law enforcement personnel. Our team is dedicated to delivering an exceptional race experience, and we encourage all participants to prepare thoroughly and embrace the journey.”

Speaking about the race slogan, Ngcobo explains, “The Comrades Marathon is a testament to the human spirit, and the winning slogan that we have chosen this year, Ska Fela Moya – Don’t Give Up, captures this essence perfectly. For every runner, the Comrades Marathon journey begins months before the start line, with long training runs in all weather and often lonely miles on the road. Then on race day, as runners tackle the many hills on the route and their bodies scream for them to slow down or stop, the words ‘Ska Fela Moya’ will echo in their minds.”

“Throughout the Comrades Marathon journey, there will be moments of self-doubt, when the only thing keeping a runner going is the fierce determination to not give up, and that’s when this slogan will come to life. This spirit is part of the South African culture, and something that all Comrades Marathon runners embrace,” he concludes.

Entry Fees Unchanged

The entry process for the 2026 Comrades Marathon will begin on 27 October 2025, and will take place in stages. The first stage begins on 27 October and is reserved for Green Number Club runners, i.e. runners who have completed the race 10 times or more, as well as CMA Members. Entries for all non-Green Number Club runners will open on 3 November. The total number of entries will be capped at 22,000, and the entry process will close on 26 November, or once the entry cap of 22,000 has been reached, whichever comes first. Runners should take note that this will be the only entry window for the 2026 race.

CMA General Manager Alain Dalais explains the thinking behind the staggered entry process. “As a token of appreciation to all Green Number Club athletes and CMA Members for their many years of loyalty and dedication to the Comrades Marathon, the first stage of the entry process will open only for them. Thereafter we will take entries from the rest of the field. The really good news for runners is that entry fees remain the same as that of the 2023, 2024 and 2025 races, in our continuing effort to make the race accessible to as many runners as we can.”

Online entries can be done via the Comrades Marathon website (www.comrades.com) or on the Comrades Marathon app, and runners can choose the option to pay the entry fee in one immediate instalment, or in two instalments: 50% on entering and the remaining 50% by the end of February 2026. Another aid to runners who want to enter the race is the continuation of the Comrades Runners’ Relief Fund, an initiative that allows up to 1500 disadvantaged athletes to apply for a reduced entry fee of up to 50%. Terms and conditions apply, and more details are available on the official Comrades website. (Note: The entry fee is waived for holders of 25 or more Comrades medals.)

Qualification for the 2026 Comrades Marathon is applicable from 9 June 2025 to 4 May 2026. This does not include the 2025 Comrades Marathon, which took place on 8 June 2025. The qualifying criteria for next year’s Comrades Marathon remain unchanged, requiring completion of an officially timed standard 42.2km marathon in under 5 hours. (Other distances and required times will be available on the Comrades Marathon website.) The closing date for submission of qualifying details, including seeding upgrade requests and club and license information, is 4 May 2026.

“Runners should also note that the substitution process, for those runners who have entered but then wish to relinquish their entry to another runner, will run over the months of March and April 2026. The window for withdrawals will run from 16 to 30 March 2026, followed by the window for securing the substitute entry, running from 1 to 15 April 2026,” says Dalais. “The athlete substituting in will pay the full 2026 race entry fee to the Comrades Marathon Association, while the withdrawing athlete will be charged an administrative fee of 15% of their entry fee, and will thus be refunded 85% of their entry fee. No money or vouchers will be exchanged between athletes.”

Prize Monies Increased

Dalais also confirms that prize money for the 2026 Comrades Marathon has once again been increased by 10% across all prize money categories. This means that the winners in both the Men’s and Women’s races will take home a cool R925,000 as part of a total prize purse of R8.19-million. This total includes a bonus incentive of R605,000 should either the men’s or women’s race winners break the Best Time previously recorded for the Up Run, and another bonus incentive of R550,000 for the men’s and women’s winners if they break the Average Pace Record for the Up Run. The current men’s Up Run Record is 5:24:49, run by Russian Leonid Shvetsov in 2008, while the women’s Up Run Record of 5:49:46 was set by South Africa’s Gerda Steyn in 2024.

There will also be prizes for the first South African man and woman, and in conjunction with the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, the race will reward the first, second and third KwaZulu-Natal men and women over the line with a cash prize.

Running to Help Others

Since its inception in 1996, the Comrades Amabeadibeadi Charity Drive has raised more than R84-million for the CMA’s official charities, and all 2026 Comrades Marathon runners are urged to join hands with the CMA in raising much-needed funds for these six official charities for the 2026 race: Childhood Cancer Foundation SA, Childline KwaZulu-Natal, Community Chest of Pietermaritzburg & Durban, Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust, Rise Against Hunger and SANParks Honorary Rangers.

“The Comrades Marathon is more than a race; it is an inspiration and a force for change. We therefore call on all runners to do your bit to contribute to the welfare of those who need our compassion and generosity,” says Ngcobo. “In 2025, the spirit of The Ultimate Human Race shone brightly, with a record-breaking total of just over R8-million raised for the CMA’s AmaBeadiBeadi official charities. I urge all aspirant 2026 entrants to select the Official Comrades Charity whose mission resonates with your own calling, and for you to run your 2026 Comrades race as a fundraiser for that special cause, and we hope to see the 2026 Comrades break all records for fundraising efforts by our runners and stakeholders.”