Comrades Marathon Association announces revised final route cut-off
|Published
Durban — The Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) has released the final Comrades route cut-off revision.
With the CMA’s focus on putting runners first and in response to runner requests and ongoing efforts to ensure that participants have the best possible chance of finishing this year’s 97th running of the Ultimate Human Race, the CMA has revised the final route cut-off.
CMA race and operations manager Ann Ashworth confirmed that the CMA board approved the adjustment to the final cut-off at the 79.1km mark at Mkondeni (top of Polly Shortts) from 11.10am to 11.20am, giving the backmarker runners an added advantage to finish this year’s 49th Comrades up run.
Ashworth advised runners to note that this decision was taken after the final cut-offs had been published in the official 2024 Comrades Marathon souvenir magazine and the 2024 Final Race Instructions (including the International Athlete Guide).
As a result, the final cut-off reflected in the official race guide and final instructions is 10 minutes faster than the time that will be imposed on June 9.
The finalised cut-offs are as follows:
Meanwhile, in the middle of the month, after receiving numerous appeals and information related to the cut-offs to be implemented at the 2024 Comrades Marathon, the CMA revised the cut-off times to be applied during this year’s race.
Ashworth confirmed the removal of the first cut-off point at St Johns Avenue, Pinetown. The amendment was made to account for the time taken for athletes to cross the start line, the ongoing roadworks at Sherwood and public recommendations made regarding the correct pacing to be applied by athletes in the first half of the race.
Since it is an up-run, the first 38km of which involves solid climbing, runners will be well advised to start the race more slowly, conserving their strength for the more undulating second half. For this reason, changes have been made to the cut-off times to be applied at Winston Park and Drummond.
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