Comrades Marathon prize money is back to pre-Covid levels.

The Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) announced on Saturday morning that this year’s prize purse will be a substantial R4,31m — effectively a 90% increase on last year’s R2,27m.

This, according to the CMA, represents nearly a doubling of last year’s first prize from R260 000 to R500 000, with second and third overall showing similar increases — from R130 000 to R250 000 for second position, and R90 000 to R180 000 for third.

If the winner in either the men’s or women’s race in this year’s Comrades Marathon breaks the Down Run best times of David Gatebe (2016 – 5:18:19) or Frith van der Merwe (1989 – 5:54:43), respectively, the runner will take home a minimum of R1m in Comrades prize money, comprising of a first prize of R500 000 plus a R500 000 incentive for breaking the best time.

In addition to these prizes, the First South African and First KwaZulu-Natal athlete will each receive R200 000 and R60 000, respectively.

The 96th Comrades Marathon will be run on Sunday, June 11.

It will start at the Pietermaritzburg City Hall at 5.30 am, ending 12 hours later at the Kingsmead Cricket Stadium in Durban.

Due to the ongoing roadworks, the distance will be approximately 88 km.

This will be the 48th Comrades Down Run.

Prize Money
Position: Men & Women
1st: R500 000
2nd: R250 000
3rd: R180 000
4th: R90 000
5th: R70 000
6th: R40 000
7th: R35 000
8th: R30 000
9th: R25 000
10th: R20 000