With an unprecedented demand for entries into next year’s Comrades Marathon, the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) has now closed the entry process barely one week after the #Comrades2019 entry opening.
CMA Race Director, Rowyn James says, “We reached the cap of 25,000 entries last night and therefore shut down the entry process. The unprecedented demand for Comrades Marathon entries has been amazing.”
James adds, “The Comrades Marathon brand is obviously in an incredibly good space and it is credit to the team who efficiently and effectively go about putting Runners First on a daily basis; as well as all of our sponsors, stakeholders and athletes who are so vested in The Ultimate Human Race.”
Athletes from 80 countries have entered The Ultimate Human Race with the lion’s share of international entries coming from the United Kingdom, Zimbabwe, India, USA, Brazil and Australia.
CMA Chairperson Cheryl Winn says, “We regret that there may be some runners who were hoping to secure an entry to next year’s Comrades Marathon but somehow missed out. The CMA thanks all South Africans for their tremendous support and contribution to The Ultimate Human Race.”
Winn adds, “We recommend that all runners keep training and stick to their fitness goals. The possibility of a Comrades Substitution between 1 March and 15 April 2019 is still there so we urge our runners to not lose all hope.
The 2019 Comrades Marathon is the 94th edition of the world’s most famous ultra-marathon and the 48th Comrades Up Run, starting at 5h30 at the Durban City Hall and finishing 12 hours later at the Scottsville Racecourse in Pietermaritzburg.
“Sizonqoba – Together We Triumph”