Huge Comrades entry confirmed
18 March 2010
The Comrades Marathon Association has completed capturing and processing all entries for the 2010 race and has pegged the final entry number at 23 565 runners.
"This is the second largest 'potential' field of runners in History of the Comrades Marathon as in 2000 we had 24 500 at the start," said the Race Director Johan Van Staaden.
"The CMA expects to have a decrease of 8% from runners that do not make the start line due to not qualifying, or injuries obtained etc, but expect no fewer than 20 000 to line up at the start on 30 May 2010.
"The cut off date for runners to submit their qualifying details is 26 April 2010, and failure to do this will result in the runner’s entry being rejected, and no correspondence will be entered into."
Due to the huge entry, this year's race will once again be a 'down' run from Pietermaritzburg to Durban and not alternate the starting city as is the tradition. This has also led to a decision to slightly alter the route of out Pietermaritzburg.
The rationale behind the decision is that the new route will allow for an easier flow for the runners and result in a quicker exit from the Pietermaritzburg city centre.
The Comrades Marathon Route Committee is in the process of measuring the new exit from Pietermaritzburg, but it will not change the final distance by any substantial manner. Estimates are that the final distance will change by about 300 meters from the 2009 route.
An official statement on the route distance will be released by the Comrades Marathon Association Route Committee as soon as it has been measured.
This year's race takes place on Sunday, 30 May, less than two weeks before the start of the Fifa World Cup.
SAinfo reporter
Would you like to use this article in your publication or on your website? See: Using SAinfo material
