Humbling slogan for Comrades 2016
Throughout the history of the greuelling race the Comrades Marathon has humbled top and back runners alike.
Up or down reaching the finish line is as much a test of endurance as it is warfare against the mind.
Success comes from beating the negativity of pain, doubt and fear into submission and triumphing over each and every adversity met on the day.
That’s the way race founder Vic Clapham designed it, and nothing has changed since that first down run from Pietermaritzburg to Durban on 24 May 1921.
The slogan for the 91st Comrades Marathon – Izokuthoba - meaning ‘It wil humble you’ was unveiled in Johannesburg on Thursday by the Comrades Marathon Association and their sponsors.
The race on Sunday 29 May 2016 will be a down run from under the tradiational start line arch at Pietermaritsburg City Hall to Sahara Kingsmead Stadium, which has been the finish since Alan Robb won the first of his four titles in 1976.
The world’s largest ultramarathon has humbled elite runners. Johnny Halberstadt, arguably South Africa’s most versatile runner, who had a sub 4-minute mile, and was a world class marathoner met his match in the 1979 up run, where while leading the race, fatigue and depletion saw him drop to the tarmac outside Camperdown.
He was overtaken by Piet Vorster and only after refueling was he able to continue on to finish second, with one Bruce Fordyce chasing him to the line in the old Jan Smuts Stadium.
The Comrades challenge can not be taken lightly although top athletes will no doubt benefit from the increased prize money which now totals R2 842 600.
The first prize has been increased by R25 000 to R400 000 and this now sees the tenth placed gold medalist earning R18 000.
As with this year's race, the previous Comrades Marathon will not be included in the qualifying period, which commences on 30 August and runs through to the public holiday on Monday, 2 May 2016.
This will also be the date for updating of the information and qualification.
This makes the Mandela Marathon and the inaugural Sizwe Marathon in Irene the opening events, with the Wally Hayward and Deloitte’s Challenge in Ballito among the closing qualifiers.
Entries, which open on the Tuesday 1 September, will be capped at 20 000 runners, and run through to Monday 30 November, with the traditional one month early bird period for South African runners who will pay R380, as opposed to the full price of R420. Entries will close if the 20 000 limit is reached before the end of November.
This is a R30 increase on the 2015 early bird entry fee.
Entrants from Africa will pay R700 and the international runners will be charged R2 400.
(File Photo: Gallo Images)
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