Comrades Marathon Association announces 2021 virtual event

WHILE many Zululanders were disappointed with this week’s announcement of the cancellation of the centenary Comrades Marathon, it’s not all doom and gloom as the second virtual Comrades event will be held on the same date (13 June).

This decision comes in the wake of engagements with KZN Athletics, Athletics SA, the National Coronavirus Command Council, members of the medical fraternity and governmental departments.

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This was both a moral and practical imperative given the ongoing uncertainty and unprecedented circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic, the onset of a second wave and a significantly more infectious variant of the virus, as well as the ongoing National State of Disaster and its associated restrictions.

The CMA board is determined that the health, safety and welfare of Comrades runners, officials, volunteers and the general public remains paramount even after having held out hope that the nation’s most unifying road running event would have been able to be hosted in June.

The impending third wave of Covid-19, which is widely anticipated around April to June this year, has ended any such hopes and makes the hosting of any mass event in the near future highly unlikely.

Runners wanting to take part in the virtual event will be able to run at any location – outside in their garden or neighbourhood – at their own pace, in a similar fashion to last year’s successful inaugural Race the Comrades Legends, which saw 43 788 participants from more than 100 nations uniting in a single virtual event.

Details of the virtual event, the Comrades Centenary Celebrations and other innovative festivities which are in the pipeline will be shared in due course.

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