Comrades 2010 a hot ticket
Brad Morgan
5 February 2010
South Africa's 2010 Comrades Marathon is a hot ticket – so hot, in fact, that the final 2 000 tickets that were made available on Sunday, 30 January were snapped up in four-and-a-half minutes! That marked the final opportunity to enter this year's race.
The total number of entries will total about 23 000. An official figure will be released towards the end of February, once all entries have been processed.
Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) Chairman Dave Dixon stated that the CMA Board has been overwhelmed by the interest from local and international runners alike. He commented: "The fact that we have received huge interest in this year's race, bodes well for the future of athletics and the Comrades Marathon as a whole. The future looks bright."
Guinness World Records
Following in the footsteps of the Midmar Mile, the CMA is aiming to have its status as the world's largest ultra-marathon officially recognised. With the massive entry received for this year's race, it will simply be a matter of documenting the event according to the guidelines set out by Guinness World Records to achieve this.
Throughout the entry process remarkable interest was shown by athletes in obtaining a place in the 85th edition of the race. Due to the large field, it will again be a "down" run from Pietermaritzburg to Durban, so that the runners can be accommodated at the finish at Sahara Stadium Kingsmead.
The largest ever field for the Comrades Marathon was achieved in 2000, on the 75th anniversary of the race, when 23 961 runners took part.
In October 2009, after 15 000 entries were set aside for runners who had previously contested the race, the cut-off was reached on the 27th of the month, four days before the deadline – an indication, according to CMA CEO Gary Boshoff, of "the special place the Comrades Marathon occupies in the local as well as global sport arena."
Novice entries
While that response was impressive, it was nowhere near as impressive as the response from novice runners.
Five-thousand places were set aside for the newcomers, with entries opening on 1 November 2009 and set to close on 30 November 2009. Only a fraction of that time was needed.
After only 27 hours, the 5 000-mark was reached!
After the novice entry closed, Boshoff commented: "I was confident that we would receive 5 000 novice entries within a four-week period, but never anticipated that we would reach the 5 000 threshold within 27 hours.
"This is a fantastic achievement ... and illustrates the extent to which the Comrades brand has captured the imagination of South African and international distance runners alike.
"Congratulations to all the successful entrants, and good luck on your quest to complete 'The Ultimate Human Race.'"
Medals
To celebrate the 85th anniversary of the race, a new medal will be introduced, and it will be the largest medal yet awarded for the race. Measuring 50mm, compared to the usual 30mm, the medal will be awarded to all runners who complete the 89.17-kilometre distance within the 12-hour time limit.
Six other medals are awarded in the Comrades Marathon:
The first 10 men and first 10 women receive gold medals.
Silver medals go to those runners who finish in times between six hours and under seven-and-a-half hours.
Bill Rowan medals, named after the winner of the first Comrades Marathon, are awarded to those runners who finish in a time between seven-and-a-half hours and under nine hours.
Bronze medals are given to runners who finish in times ranging from nine hours to sub-11 hours.
The Vic Clapham medal, named after the founder of the race, goes to those runners who complete the distance in a time from 11 hours to 12 hours.
In addition, Wally Hayward medals – named after the five-time winner and oldest ever finisher in the race at the age of 80 – are awarded to those runners that fail to finish in the top 10, but record a time of under six hours.
SAinfo reporter
Would you like to use this article in your publication or on your website? See: Using SAinfo material
