Comrades Marathon announces official distance for 2026 Up Run

The official distance for the 99th edition of the Comrades Marathon has been confirmed.

This year’s Up Run from Durban to Pietermaritzburg will be 85.777km long, making it the shortest Up Run distance in recent Comrades Marathon history.

The race takes place on Sunday, 14 June.

The previous shortest race distance was 85.910km in the 2024 Up Run, which also started in front of Durban City Hall and finished at the Scottsville Racecourse in Pietermaritzburg.

The 2026 race will therefore be 133 metres shorter than the 2024 event, which itself was 820 metres shorter than the 2019 Up Run, measuring 86.730km.

The official measurement of the 2026 route was completed over the weekend of 25-26 April.

Changes on the route

Comrades Marathon Race Director Sue Forge explained that the slight reduction in distance is largely due to route adjustments necessitated by ongoing infrastructure developments.

“The ongoing roadworks have had a significant impact on the route and our planning. However, thanks to the outstanding collaboration and support of the municipalities, the Road Traffic Inspectorate, Durban Metro Police and Msunduzi Traffic Police, we have been able to finalise a route that not only provides a slightly shorter distance for runners, but also improves the management of road closures, traffic flow, infrastructure removal and post-race clean-up.”

Forge added: “We have changed the set-up of the finish at Scottsville and shortened the finish straight, while out on the route, the biggest change is that from 45th Cutting to Cowies Hill, where runners will move in a contra-flow direction. This means they will run on the other side of the road to previous years, against the normal traffic direction, which will also reduce the gradient of that section slightly.”

“Meanwhile, we have retained the Umlaas Road cut-through, working closely with Sanral and the appointed contractors to remove a 12-metre section of the new roadside barriers and surface the area, enabling runners to cross directly. This adjustment will once again save runners approximately 870 metres.”