Comrades Marathon 2024 route cut-offs revised

With less than 30 days to go to the running of the 2024 Comrades Marathon, organisers have scrapped the first cut-off point, at St Johns Avenue in Pinetown.

There will now be only five cut-off points along the route, which this year takes runners from Durban to Pietermaritzburg in an Up run. It is the first Up run since 2019.

The 97th Comrades will take place on Sunday, June 9, starting at 5.30am at the Durban City Hall and finishing at Scottsville Racecourse in Pietermaritzburg 12 hours later, with the final gun to fire at 5.30pm.

The 49th Up run will be over a distance of 85.91km.

Pinetown cut-off

The Comrades Marathon Association said on Thursday that “following the receipt of numerous appeals and information related to the cut-offs to be implemented, the association has revised the cut-off times to be applied during this year’s race.”

They added: “This move signals increased efforts by the CMA to be both runner-focused and responsive to fresh ideas and input related to the growth and improvement of this iconic national event.”

The removal of the first cut-off in Pinetown has been made to account for the time taken for athletes to cross the start line, the ongoing road works at Sherwood and public recommendations made regarding the correct pacing to be applied by athletes in the first half of the race.

With this being an UP run, the first 38km involve plenty of climbing, with organisers and experts advising runners to start slowly, and to conserve their strength for the more undulating second half of the race.

Also, the cut-off times have been revised for Winston Park and Drummond (halfway).

The following cut-off times will now be applied:

Winston Park (Caltex Garage) – 29.6km in, clock time 4:45:00
Drummond (Halfway) – 42.6km in, clock time 6:20:00
Cato Ridge (N3 Subway) – 56.6km in, clock time 8:10:00
Umlaas Road – 67.5km in, clock time 9:40:00
Mkondeni (Top of Polly Shortts) – 79.1km in, clock time 11:10:00
Finish line – 85.91km in, clock time 12:00:00