When you think of an event that brings unity, crowd supporters, a showcase of resilience and ubuntu — the Comrades Marathon stands tall. The Comrades is not just about the 22,000 runners who have laced up their running shoes to participate in the gruelling ultra marathon.
On Sunday one can expect that families, friends and colleagues will become part of the prestigious experience as they bring their vibrant support and energy, standing on the sidelines, armed with banners bearing names of their loved ones, messages of support and flags.
Thousands more people will be rooting for their loved ones, cheering them on from their TV screens as they follow the unfolding drama of the race.
Each of the 22,000 runners has a story to tell about why they are running the race. Just like 74-year-old Western Cape man Louis Massyn, who hopes he will be the first athlete to complete 50 Comrades ultra-marathons when he crosses the finish line at the People's Park in Moses Mabhida Stadium on Sunday. Hundred others will be running their first comrades, after preparing for months.
Comrades is a national institution, and the communal spirit reinforces the idea that, while a few may run, the entire nation is behind them, embodying the essence of ubuntu and togetherness.
On June 9 last year, Gerda Steyn and Dutchman Piet Wiersma won the 2024 Comrades Marathon. Both victories were notable and made for excellent stories. Steyn smashed her up run record while defending her 2023 down run title (also a record) in a year in which she won her fifth successive Two Oceans ultra-marathon two months before the Comrades. Less than three months later, however, the feel-good factor of those stories has been dashed by the chaos resembling a dumpster fire that has engulfed the organisers of the ultra-marathon, the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA).
A screenshot was leaked of a message deemed as racist that was posted on a WhatsApp group by a now-banned former board member, Zinhle Sokhela, accusing Comrades race and operations manager and 2018 winner Ann Ashworth of getting white people to join the CMA to elect a white board. It read, in part: “Our new GM has recruited as many vanilla people as possible, and as it stands, we have close to 400 new members (all vanilla) who have joined and want to attend the AGM in November to take back the CMA board to be whites-only.”
The Comrades Marathon stands not only as a testament to physical endurance but as a celebration of the strength, resilience and unshakeable spirit of a nation
From then on, things went downhill at the CMA and there was one dramatic episode after the other as the then chair Mqondisi Ngcobo and his deputy Les Burnard resigned after an explosive special general meeting which saw one board member, Sokela, banned for life and another, Isaac Ngwenya, escaping sanction. Other members of the association launched a court action following a resolution by KwaZulu-Natal Athletics which said only people living in the province could be members — with full voting rights — of the CMA in terms of its “domicile rule”.
Those living outside the province would be “volunteer members” — with no formal say in how the CMA, which organises the Comrades, is run. The resolution was adopted by the KZNA after several CMA members called for a special general meeting to discuss issues, including racist remarks made by certain board members regarding alleged attempts to “pack the board with whites”, the sudden axing of race organiser Ashworth by the board, and allegations of “vote buying” and “busing in” of marshals to influence CMA meetings.
Despite all the internal politics with the organisers, the Comrades Marathon is an annual reminder of what it means to be South African, our ability to come together, to support one another, and to celebrate our shared humanity.
The Comrades Marathon stands not only as a testament to physical endurance but as a celebration of the strength, resilience and unshakeable spirit of a nation that thrives on community. Here’s to another unforgettable year of the ultimate human race.
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