‘Unprecedented interest’: Many Comrades runners must accept they will miss out

While runners have shown some frustration over the last couple of years, due to unprecedented interest in South Africa’s most popular road running race, the reality is that they might have to get used to it.

Ahead of the 2026 Comrades Marathon, the 22,000 available entries were sold out in less than 10 hours, leaving many runners frustrated as they did not even log into the entry portal before all the spots had been snatched up.

For the 2027 race – the 100th edition of the annual ultra-marathon – organisers have taken a different approach in order to try and make it more fair, following the same route as many major international road races by introducing a ballot system. Rather than a first come, first served system, interested individuals enter a lucky draw.

In addition, the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) opened separate entry windows for CMA members and people who had completed the race at least nine times, and both were sold out in less than a week.

The majority of the record 28,000 entries being taken for next year’s event are currently being accepted during the ballot window, which opened on 9 September and closes on 22 September, and the long queues have made runners nervous because it seems a lot of people are going to miss out.

Interest at an all-time high

Race director Sue Forge said this week that the organisers could not reveal how many runners had already entered the ballot, but on the opening day of the entry window, there were stages when the online system indicated over 40,000 people were waiting in a queue.

Though it was unclear how accurate the list of individuals in the queue was, because many people might have joined using multiple devices, it was clear that the interest in the race was at an all-time high.

“We have seen an unprecedented interest in each of the entry processes and even more so in the general ballot,” Forge said.

“However, we will not disclose application numbers while the process is still open, as this could create unnecessary anxiety among runners.

“We will share the verified figures once the ballot and draw process have been completed.”

Larger entry limits will be challenging

Despite interest in the annual race having risen significantly in recent years, Forge said it would be challenging to expand the entry limit beyond the 28,000 allowed for the 100th edition of the race.

If runners continued to show so much interest in the event, they would need to get used to potentially missing out due to increased demand for places in the field.

“The potential for growth at Comrades cannot be viewed in the same context as that of a conventional marathon,” Forge said.

“The event presents a unique set of challenges because of its ultra-marathon distance, point-to-point route between two cities and the extensive impact it has on the province throughout race day.

“Any further increase in future years would therefore need to be carefully assessed and could not be based on demand alone.

“Key considerations include the route’s capacity, the available daylight hours while still allowing every runner the full 12 hours to finish, and the safe management of the significant number of spectators along the route and within the start and finish precincts.”

The 2027 Comrades Marathon, a down run between Pietermaritzburg and Durban, will be held on 13 June.