Comrades success for local club
From first-time Comrades runners to seasoned veterans, Pierre Van Ryneveld Athletic Club celebrated its strongest-ever showing at the iconic race, with record participation, personal bests and inspiring performances highlighting the club's rapid growth.
The 2026 Comrades Marathon was a watershed year for the Pierre Van Ryneveld Athletics Club. The 99th edition of the Comrades Marathon was the ‘up’ run from Durban to Pietermaritzburg.
The club has achieved significant growth in the last two years.
It is focusing on assisting and putting the structures in place to improve its runners and guide them to take on bigger road races.
The PVR club had a record of 14 starters (5 novices) and 13 finishers. The club achieved three Bill Rowan medals (sub-9 hours), four bronze medals (sub-11 hours) and six Vic Clapham medals (sub-12 hours). Eight runners achieved personal best times.
The first man to finish was Michael Diener in a time of 8:39 and the first woman was Rebecca Harle Smit in 8:47. Smith also achieved her back-to-back medal.
Their youngest runner, Ruben Wiese, finished in 8:57.
All of these runners achieved significant personal bests while earning their Bill Rowan medals.
Among other finishers was Pieter Wiese, who is a cancer survivor. Despite tearing his calf in the race, he still finished in 10:28, showing incredible courage.
Local dominee Henk Janse van Rensburg finished his 15th Comrades in 11:32 while guiding two other runners through the race.
Manku Ramogale was the last runner to cross the finish line in a time of 11:47 and achieved her back-to-back medal for finishing the up-and-down Comrades in consecutive years on her first two Comrades.
The club is particularly proud of its runners, especially all its novices who had never run further than 21km in the year leading into the 2026 Comrades.
It already has a programme in place to get their prospective novices through their qualifying marathon this year.
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