An open letter to Comrades organisers: The race deserves better

News24

2 days ago

Participants of the Comrades Marathon deserve better planning from organisers, argues Luke Mortimer.
Comrades is not just a race - it's a national treasure. With nearly a century of heritage, a fiercely loyal following, and a culture that inspires runners and supporters alike, the race has earned its place as one of the world's great endurance events.
But year after year, it's let down by disorganised planning and what feels like an unaccountable, amateurish committee.
For a race that has been going for 98 years, on largely the same route, with deeply embedded traditions, it's astonishing how often basic things go wrong. It's borderline disrespectful to the thousands who train all year, travel from far and wide, and look to this day with such anticipation.
This year, in an effort to accommodate more runners, they introduced a two-wave system.
In theory, fine. In execution, a mess.
The Comrades is - and always has been - a gun-to-gun race. The charm, the pressure, and the drama depend on that. Trying to split the field for logistical ease without any real foresight on how runners would actually be divided at the finish was deeply flawed.
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Anyone who has ever raced the Comrades knows the congestion in the final hour is real - how did the committee think they could manage two delayed starts without creating more confusion?
Let's be honest: The Comrades is the biggest ultra-marathon in the world, but it's nowhere near the most professionally run.
Spend a single day with the London or Berlin Marathon organisers - both of whom handle twice the number of runners - and you'd see the difference immediately. The logistics, the flow, the professionalism... it's light years ahead.
There are such simple, obvious fixes.
Take the start: Pietermaritzburg and Durban both have broad roads leading out of the city. In Pietermaritzburg, the city layout offers two large, parallel roads - Albert Luthuli Street and Boshoff Street - both wide enough to host separate starts.
These roads naturally loop back and could rejoin smoothly at Alexandra Road, just before Polly Shorts.
This would provide a true simultaneous gun start, preserve the spirit of the race, and allow the field to thin out naturally before convergence - much like the London Marathon does with its Blue and Red starts.
It's simple logistics, not innovation. The roads are there. The space is there. All that's missing is the will to think.
In Durban, a similar approach could be taken, utilising both sides of Tollgate and rejoining at Sherwood on the way up to 45th Cutting.
This isn't rocket science - it's just common sense.
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Then there's the finish. This year's street finish was chaos. Not enough stands, nowhere near enough space for runners to decompress, find loved ones, or even just move.
The end of the world's greatest ultra shouldn't feel like a back-alley bottleneck.
Again, look at the London finish: wide-open parkland, seamless exits, medical support, medals, family meet-up zones - all efficient and dignified.
After 90km of brutal effort, runners deserve a dignified finish.
Why they don't take a leaf from global races and create an open field finish - where runners can recover, hydrate, find medical support, get their medal, and reconnect with supporters - is baffling.
They had the space. They just didn't have the plan. If someone had told you 'we are going to have a 400m stretch of roads for spectators to stand alongside at the finish to support' - one would say, 'That sounds fantastic!'
But if they were to elaborate and say 'but along those 400m you will have no stands and be sandwiched in a 1m corridor between a rusty fence and the barriers with a single entry and exit no bigger than a double door at one end' you would exclaim 'are you mad? That wont work!'
And of course, it didn't.
The final insult: the start gun didn't work. Nor did the cut-off gun. These are the absolute basics. You have one job.
The truth is, the Comrades survives despite its organisers.
It thrives on the energy of the runners, the dedication of the volunteers, and the magic of the day.
But the goodwill that carries this race is being stretched thinner each year. As we approach the 100th edition, that's not just unacceptable - it's dangerous.
The centenary of the Comrades should be a crowning moment. At this rate, it'll be a crisis.
The Comrades deserves better. And so do all of those who run it.