They may have missed out on securing a place at this year’s Comrades Marathon, but Neil McCartney and Ruan Venter have found a unique way to ensure they remain part of the excitement surrounding the ultimate human race.

Instead of watching from the sidelines while thousands of runners tackle the gruelling 85.77km up run from Durban to Pietermaritzburg on June 14, the pair will create their own Comrades experience by completing 51 laps of the Bunny Park perimeter in Benoni.

The route measures 1.72km per lap, meaning the duo will cover about 86km – slightly more than the official Comrades distance.

The idea was born during the Loskop Marathon in Middelburg on April 25, which both athletes had entered as their intended Comrades qualifier before administrative issues prevented them from securing entries for the race.

“We were just chatting while running and said maybe we should do our own Comrades,” explained McCartney.

“It started as a joke. I reminded Ruan about the time he ran around Bunny Park 30 times and said maybe we should do that. There was a bit of silence, and then we both looked at each other and thought, ‘Let’s do it.’ It was that simple.”

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What started as a light-hearted conversation quickly gathered momentum after McCartney shared an AI-generated poster on social media.

“The response was unbelievable. People started saying they wanted to join us for a few laps, walkers wanted to come along and some runners who also missed out on Comrades said they wanted to do the whole thing with us.”

To replicate the atmosphere of race day, McCartney and Nel will start at 05:30, the same time as the Comrades Marathon. They hope to livestream the traditional pre-race build-up featuring Chariots of Fire, Shosholoza, the national anthem and Max Trimborn’s famous rooster crow before setting off.

Although physically prepared, McCartney believes the real challenge will be mental.

“Running around Bunny Park 51 times is going to be brutal. There are no hills to worry about, but after 30 or 40 laps, you’re going to be tired of seeing the same thing. That’s where it becomes a head game, just like Comrades. You keep going when everything is telling you to stop.

“We turned something disappointing into something we’re genuinely excited about.”

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