Comrades Marathon 2025: The Fastest Ultra with the Deepest Roots
- Ellie Harper
- Jun 7
- 3 min read
Trail runners love Western States. Road runners have Comrades. It’s 55 miles of speed, history, and unforgiving pavement—and it’s been that way for over 100 years.
This Sunday morning in South Africa, over 20,000 runners will line up for Comrades Marathon 2025—a 55-mile “Down Run” from Pietermaritzburg to Durban. It’s the oldest ultramarathon in the world, first run in 1921. And it’s still unlike anything else.

📜 A Century of Suffering
Comrades isn’t just old — it was born after World War I.
The first race took place in 1921, founded by Vic Clapham, a soldier who wanted to honor fallen comrades by testing the living. Just 34 runners showed up. One finished in leather boots.
Since then, the race has run through apartheid, protest, pandemics, and political change. For decades, it was men-only and whites-only. That changed in the 1970s and ’80s — and now, over 25% of finishers are women, and the field includes thousands from across the globe.
📍 Course Breakdown
Distance: 88.1 km / 54.7 miles
Start: Pietermaritzburg (2,156 ft / 657 m elevation)
Finish: Durban (26 ft / 8 m elevation)
Total Elevation Gain: ~3,800 ft (1,160 m)
Total Elevation Loss: ~7,000 ft (2,130 m)
Course Type: Point-to-point “Down Run”
Surface: 100% paved road
Cutoff Time: 12 hours (strict)
🕰️ Cutoffs Don’t Care About Feelings
Comrades has a strict 12-hour cutoff. Miss it by one second? You don’t finish. You get pulled at checkpoints. You get nothing. And yes, the crowd boos the cutoff clock every time it ends someone’s race.
🏁 The Finish Line Is a Stadium
Not metaphorically. You actually finish in Moses Mabhida Stadium, packed with thousands of screaming fans. There are sprints for the win, sprints for gold (sub-6 hours), sprints just to beat the final gun.
People collapse. People cry. People crawl.

🏃♂️ Who’s Racing in the Comrades Marathon 2025?
🇿🇦 Tete Dijana – Two-time Comrades champ and current course record holder. The man to beat.
🇿🇦 Gerda Steyn – South Africa’s road ultra queen. Holds both the up & down run records.
🇳🇱 Piet Wiersma – Dutch phenom. 2024 winner. Cool, calm, calculated.
🇿🇦 Bongmusa Mthembu – 3x Comrades champ and one of the most respected runners in the field.
🇿🇦 Joseph Manyedi – Ultra veteran with multiple golds and nothing to prove.
🇷🇺 Alexandra Morozova – 2022 champ, always near the front, even in controversy.
🇵🇱 Dominika Stelmach – Road crusher from Poland with major range and race savvy.
🇮🇪 Caitriona Jennings – Olympian turned ultra contender. Europe’s dark horse.
🇬🇧 Carla Molinaro – British badass. Holds the JOGLE record (900+ miles, solo).
📺 Can You Watch It?
Nope. There’s no easy livestream. It airs on South African TV, but international fans are stuck with social clips.
But—you can track it live here:
🕓 When It Starts
Sunday, June 8 (South Africa time)
Group 1: 5:45 AM SAST
→ Saturday, June 7: 11:45 PM ET / 10:45 PM CT / 9:45 PM MT / 8:45 PM PT
Group 2: 6:00 AM SAST
→ Saturday, June 7: 12:00 AM ET / 11:00 PM CT / 10:00 PM MT / 9:00 PM PT
The elites go off with Group 1. If you’re watching from the U.S., this is a Saturday night race.