The Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) has officially announced that the route distance for the 98th edition of The Ultimate Human Race is a challenging 89.98km.
This year’s race will be the 49th Down Run, taking place on Sunday, 8 June, with the race starting at the Pietermaritzburg City Hall and finishing 12 hours later with a street finish outside Durban’s People’s Park.
The 2025 race will be slightly longer than the 87.701km of the previous Down Run (2023), as the finish has been moved from the Hollywoodbets Kingsmead to a new street finish outside People’s Park, in the northbound lanes of Masabalala Yengwa Avenue.
This will include a finish-line grandstand for spectators erected in the southbound lanes of Masabalala Yengwa Avenue, as well as a hospitality and entertainment area in People’s Park, and space allocated for running club tents on either side of the finish.
The longest Down Run in the history of the Comrades was 92km in 1971.
New street finish
The new street finish will create a more inclusive and celebratory atmosphere, as more people can gather to cheer on the participants, while also allowing better flow of runners and spectators, reducing congestion, and ensuring a smoother finish experience for all.
Runners will not doubt be pleased to know that no steps will need to be climbed after they finish, with a short, flat walk from the finish-line to either the Club Tent hospitality area, or nearby parking areas – and a free shuttle service throughout the day will make getting to cars even easier.
This precise distance of the route has been meticulously confirmed following thorough route measurement conducted by the CMA’s Route Portfolio team, in close collaboration with the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport’s Road Traffic Inspectorate and the Durban Metro Police.
“The Comrades Marathon Association is incredibly proud to announce the official 89.98km distance for the 2025 Down Run,” said CMA General Manager, Alain Dalais.
“This carefully measured course embodies the spirit and tradition of The Ultimate Human Race, promising an unforgettable test of endurance and resilience for all participants.
“The route from the start will leave the City of Pietermaritzburg via Chief Albert Luthuli Street, turning right onto Alexandra Road and left onto Ritchie Road, which becomes Washington Road, and proceeding through Mkondeni to Polly Shortt’s.
“These first 8km of the route are wide, spacious and well lit, thus ensuring safer running conditions for all participants.”
“We are really excited about the new finish venue, because it will provide both runners and spectators with a unique experience and inspirational end to the day’s running,” added Dalais.
“The runners will enjoy an easier, smoother finish process, while loved ones and supporters will be right there to welcome their runners in, and the venue will help create a terrific finish-line atmosphere.”
Improved safety and experience
Two things drive the 2025 Comrades Marathon organisers: To improve both the runners’ safety and race-day experience.
With the largest ever field of around 22 000 Down Run starters expected, this prompted the CMA’s decision to split the Start into two groups, with a slightly later start time to ensure more light and better visibility in the early kilometres, notably coming down Polly Shortt’s.
This will see the first group start at 05:45 and the second group setting off at 06:00.
The two-batch start will ensure that runners experience similar free, open road running of the races in the 1990s and early 2000s, and the last runners in each start group are expected to cross the start line in under five minutes.
Runners’ start batch and seeding information will be finalised and shared shortly after the qualifying window for the 2025 race closes on Monday, 5 May.
The two start groups will have different coloured race numbers – orange or purple – and there will be two similarly coloured finish chutes in Durban.
Both start groups will have the traditional 12 hours to complete the race, and all the normal medal cut-off times at the finish, with volunteer ‘spotters’ and signage to ensure that runners enter the correct chute and receive the correct medals.
A special sound will be played at the finish for the Group 1 race-end at 17:45, and the traditional final cut-off gun will be fired by the CMA Board Chairperson for the Group 2 race-end at 18:00.
To further ensure the runners’ safety and overall experience towards the end of the 12-hour race, the last 10km of the route will be well lit by both existing streetlights in Durban, as well as a large number of generator-powered mobile floodlight masts provided by the CMA.
These will be positioned at darker points of the route from Westwood/45th Cutting to the finish precinct, as well as at all race-day parking areas, and all sidewalks and side streets from the finish to Jacko Jackson Drive (outside Hollywoodbets Kings Park).
Furthermore, a large security response team will be in place in all the aforementioned areas until late in the evening of race-day, working with the finish venue security team and the SAPS to ensure the safety and protection of runners and spectators.
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