More prize money, same entry fees for 2025 Comrades Marathon

There was good news on Wednesday for both elite and social runners at the launch of the 2025 Comrades Marathon.

Having broken new ground this year by offering the biggest prize purse of any road race in Africa, the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) has confirmed there will be a 10% increase next year.

According to acting race director Alain Dalais, the total purse will be more than R7.6 million, including R874,000 for the men’s and women’s winners, as well as a R550,000 bonus for the winners if they break the ‘down’ run records held by Tete Dijana (5:13:58) and Gerda Steyn (5:44:54).

Meanwhile, the CMA has also opted not to increase the entry fee for the 98th edition of the popular ultra-marathon.

South African entrants will pay R1,200, participants from other African countries will be charged R2,000 and runners from outside Africa will need to fork out R4,500.

In addition, the Comrades relief fund will assist 1,500 entrants who are “financially challenged” by offering up to 50% off the race fee, while individuals who have run the race 25 times will be allowed to enter for free.

Entry window

Entries for the 98th edition of the annual race in KwaZulu-Natal opened on Wednesday for green number runners who have completed the race 10 times or more, while entries for other runners will open on 13 November. The entry window will close on 9 December or when the limit of 23,000 runners is reached.

Organisers have also announced that the qualifying period, which opened on 10 June this year, will close on 5 May next year.

A substitution window period, which allows entrants to pass on their race numbers if they cannot participate, will open in March and close in April.

Cut-off points on the route will be confirmed next year, as will the official race distance, which is expected to be around 89km.

The 98th edition of the Comrades Marathon, to be held on Sunday 8 June, will start outside Pietermaritzburg City Hall and finish at a new venue in Durban, People’s Park, close to Moses Mabhida Stadium.