Some interesting facts and figures

DATE

The first Comrades Marathon was run on Empire Day 24 May 1921. It was later run on Union Day, and later still on Republic Day. On two occasions 1952 and 1953 it was run as late as the 13th & 14th July, and on one occasion 1995 it was run as early as 20 May.

Since 1996 it has been run on Youth Day, normally 16 June. This year however with 16 June falling on a Sunday, the public holiday is officially designated as Monday 17 June.

DURBAN - PIETERMARITZBURG LINK

The Comrades Marathon is run between the cities of Durban & Pietermaritzburg, with the direction alternating between "Down Runs" from Pietermaritzburg to Durban in odd-numbered years and "Up Runs" from Durban to Pietermaritzburg in even numbered years.

START VENUE

The race starts each year at the respective City Halls of the two cities, with the respective Mayor of the start venue city firing the gun which sets the runners on their way. This year the race is an "Up Run" starting at the City Hall in Durban. It will take the last runner between 6-7 minutes to cross the starting line.

FINISH VENUE

The finish venue has changed on numerous occasions during the 77 year history of the event, just one of the reasons why the distance of the event varies from year to year.

The first "Up Run" in 1922 finished at the Royal Showgrounds on the opposite (and furthest) side of Pietermaritzburg. Since then it has finished at Alexander Park, Collegians Club, what was Jan Smuts but is now Harry Gwala Stadium, and since 1998 at Scottsville Racecourse.

DISTANCE

The distance varies from year to year between 86-92km, dependent upon negotiations with traffic authorities. On average the "Down Run" is approximately 2km longer that the "Up Run". This year the Official Race Distance is 86,55km.

The total length of uphill running will be 54,1km and the total length of downhill running will be 32,5km.

ALTITUDE

The race obviously starts at sea level in the coastal city of Durban, and the finish in Pietermaritzburg has an altitude of 650m.

However during the course of the race, runners will climb a total of 1,778m (5832 ft) and descend a total of 1150m (3772 ft). The highest point on the route is Umlaas Road altitude 823.7m.

PARTICIPANTS

The race has attracted 12,133 entries this year, down from 15,361 last year. 10,516 men and 1,617 women will be participating, of which 1,912 will be running the race for the first time. The average age of the participants (both male & female) is 39 years.

If all 12,133 entries should complete the race on 17 June they will have completed a total number of 1 050 111 km.

Following 76 stagings of the Comrades Marathon, 78,460 individuals have completed the race and 275,716 individual Comrades Marathons have been completed, an average of 3.5 Comrades Marathons per individual runner.

FOREIGN ENTRIES

This year the race has attracted 434 foreign entries from 37 countries. The largest contingents of foreign athletes will be coming from neighboring Zimbabwe with 86 and the United Kingdom with 82. Other significant contingents in terms of numbers include Australia with 61 and the United States with 33.

The largest foreign athletic club contingent will be Harare Athletic Club with 68 participants, followed by Rainier Rebels from Australia with 18 runners.

The Russian contingent although relatively small, consisting of just 11 athletes, will no doubt have a significant impact on the race as it includes some of the best ultra-marathon athletes in the world. The race has also attracted world class athletes from Belarus, Brazil, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Poland and the USA, as well as the first entrant from the Republic of China in the history of the race.

PRIZE MONEY & OTHER INCENTIVES

The total cash prize package for 2002 is R750 000, with the winning male and female each earning R150 000. This represents a 23% increase on the R610 000 which was awarded in 2001. While a ceremonial prizegiving is held on race day, prize money, medals & trophies will be awarded only after the results of Drug Testing are made available to the organisers.

A special R20 000 incentive will be awarded the first gold medallist (male & female) to pass through the Pick 'n Pay Half Way mark. It is anticipated that this incentive will spur the athletes on to set a brisk, but hopefully not suicidal pace.

In addition to prize money, Harmony Gold to the value of at least R250 000 will be awarded while an additional R650 ,000 could be awarded should either the men's or women's records for the "Up Run" be broken.

Solid gold 1 ounce medals with a value of approximately R3 200 are awarded to the first 10 men and the first 10 women. Solid gold ½ ounce medals with a value of approximately R1,600 are awarded to the first veteran male and female and the first master male and female, as well as to the individuals making up the first men's, women's veteran men's and veteran women's teams to finish.

In addition two 25 ounce solid gold figurines with an approximate value of R80,000 each will be awarded to the first South African Male and Female runners to cross the finish line.

And in the event of the men's and women's "down run" records being broken 100 ounce Harmony Gold figurines with an approximate value of R320 000 will be awarded to the winner's thereof.

RECORDS

The records for the "Up Run" are presently held by Vladimir Kotov of Belarus in a time of 5:25:33 set in 2000 and Ann Trason of the USA in a time of 6:13:23. Although the women's record is probably the softer target of the two, the Men's record is probably the more vulnerable one this year given the relative strength of the competition.

COMRADES MARATHON MEDALS

Comrades Marathon Medals are awarded to finishers on the following basis : Gold to the first 10 men and the first 10 women
Silver to all others finishing under 7h30
Bill Rowan to runners finishing between 7h30 and 8h59
Bronze to all others finishing between 9h00 and under 11h00.

The "Bill Rowan" Medal is named after the winner of the first Comrades Marathon in 1921 in a time of 8:59, which was the slowest winning time in the history of the race.

PROVINCIAL & CLUB STATISTICS

3,279 athletes from KwaZulu-Natal will participate in the event, as well as 3,227 from Central Gauteng, 1,346 from Gauteng North, 843 from Mphumalanga, 796 from Western Province and 543 from Free State.

The three largest clubs represented are Rand Athletic Club 378, Chatworth Athletic Club 186 and Boksburg Athletic Club 160.

OLDEST, YOUNGEST

The oldest competitor in the race will be 73 year old Gustave Busch from Brazil, while the oldest female in also a foreigner, Mitsuku Ozaki aged 67 from Japan. The youngest competitors are Eben Blaauw from Irene who was born on 22 December 1982 and Rene Burger from Ellisras born on 14 December 1981.

AVERAGE SPEED

The average speed of the winning male will be approximately 15.98km per hour. The average speed of the winning female will be approximately 13.85km per hour, and the average speed of the last runner will be 7.88km per hour.

SPREAD OF THE FIELD

One hour into the race the first runner will have completed approximately 17km and will have reached Old Main Road, Pinetown at the bottom of Cowies Hill, at which stage the last runner will be in Konigkramer Avenue, and the field will be spread over 9km. The first runner will pass through the half way point (approx 43km) at Drummond after approximately 2hours 40minutes, at which stage the last runner will still be on Field's Hill with the field spread over 21km.

And, when the first runner arrives at the finish in Pietermaritzburg after approximately 5hours25minutes, the last runner will still be approaching the half way mark at Drummond, with the field spread over 44km. Runners are required to retire at the halfway cut-off point if they do not reach it by 11h30.