Last chance to squeeze a Comrades spot

Runners hoping to participate at the 92nd edition of the Comrades Marathon have three days left to book their places via the substitution process.

The month-long window period, which allowed withdrawn entrants to pass on their race numbers to other athletes, would close on Friday, organisers confirmed in a statement.

Race director Rowyn James said they had received over 600 successful substitution applications over the last few weeks.

“Thanks to the substitution rule, we will have many more athletes taking on the challenge of the 92nd Comrades Marathon,” James said.

“We wish our runners well with their training preparations.”

The regular entry process for the 87km ultra-distance race, which remained the largest and oldest of its kind in the world, closed in November after the limit of 20 000 runners was reached.

Local athletes Gift Kelehe and Caroline Wostmann, who was in contention for her third straight victory at the 56km Two Oceans road race in Cape Town on Saturday, were gearing up to defend their Comrades ‘up’ run titles between Durban and Pietermaritzburg on June 4.

For more sport your way, follow The Citizen on Facebook and Twitter.