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Entering the Comrades Marathon is not cheap, so where does your money go?
Depending on where you live, a Comrades entry costs between R1 200 and R4 500.
Elite athletes at the start of the annual Comrades Marathon. Picture: Anesh Debiky/Gallo Images
As is the case with most major mass participation events, running the Comrades Marathon is not a cheap endeavour.
On top of travel and accommodation costs, shoes and kit, joining a club and paying for qualifying events, runners must also enter the race.
Entry fee
For local South Africans, an entry for next week’s Comrades in KwaZulu-Natal costs R1,200, while runners from other African countries must pay R2,000 and those from other continents must fork out R4,500.
In return, entrants receive t-shirts and goodie bags filled with sponsors’ products, and anyone who finishes within the 12-hour cut-off gets a medal.
But most of these incentives and rewards are provided by the race’s partners, so where does the entrance fee go?
With over 20,000 participants this year, the total entries add up to a fair amount of change. And a look at the latest financial statement from the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA), released in August last year, gives some indication of how the money is spent.
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More than half the income made by the CMA in the 2021/22 financial year came from entrance fees, which accounted for R17.2 million of the R33.2 million total brought in by the organisation.
And while sponsors also provide significant funding β with R11.2 million received in the last financial year β and there are other revenue streams, without the entrance fees it seems the race simply couldn’t take place.
Full-time staff
A logistical nightmare, due to the nature of the 87km point-to-point course which requires road closures all the way, Comrades depends on a full-time team of employees to organise the race every year and this is where a large chunk of the money goes.
According to the race’s financial statements, R10.7 million is spent on race expenses (general event organisation) and another R10 million is used for administration (including staff salaries).
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But that accounts for less than two thirds of the event’s income, so where is the rest of it going?
Well, the answer is: all over the place. Other major annual expenses for the CMA include marketing (R2.81 million), setting up the finish area ahead of race day (R2.12 million) and medical expenses (R1.15 million), with the organisers ensuring full teams of physiotherapists and doctors are on hand to assist struggling runners during the gruelling event.
Other significant costs include route expenses (R928,000), media expenses (R704,000), prize giving (R667,000) and the event expo (R648,000).
Paying for the experience
So it’s not as simple as paying an entry fee and getting your money back in goodies and rewards. Most of the cost of the entry is spent on the experience itself.
Organising the world’s largest ultra-marathon involves a wide range of expenses and entry fees provide crucial income for the event to take place.
Only runners paying that fee can decide whether it’s money well spent.
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