← All eventsComrades Marathon
The world's biggest and oldest ultramarathon — ~89km between Pietermaritzburg and Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, alternating Up and Down runs yearly. 2027 is the 100th edition, an 89km Down Run (PMB → Durban), Sun 13 June. Strict ~12hr gun-to-gun cutoff, the 'Big Five' hills, and quad-punishing descents. An ultra, not a marathon.
The world's biggest and oldest ultramarathon. Around 89km of rolling road from Pietermaritzburg to Durban, and 2027 is the 100th running: a Down Run, off at 05:30 on Sunday 13 June.
Net downhill, but do not be fooled. The Big Five hills break up the route, and the long descents pound your quads hour after hour. Runners who fly the early downhills are wincing by 60km.
One cutoff frames the whole day: roughly 12 hours gun to gun, with intermediate checkpoints you have to make. Get inside it and you earn a medal by finish bracket. This is an ultra, not a marathon.
Who finishes, and how
Patterns like these, drawn straight from 2024 race data, are baked into how Beina coaches you for this event.
Is Comrades Marathon for you?
- Runners with a solid marathon base ready to step up to true ultra distance and many hours on their feet.
- Durable runners who protect their legs. The Down Run rewards controlled descending, not early speed, and the quads decide the day.
- Patient pacers who respect a cutoff. Roughly 12 hours gun to gun means holding something back and making every intermediate checkpoint.
- Anyone chasing an iconic finish. A medal earned by time bracket, on the centenary edition, makes finishing itself the goal.
Training plan for Comrades Marathon
A training plan for Comrades Marathon isn't a generic base build. Beina reads the event's exact demands, looks at your specific profile and the time you actually have, and maps a highly adapted plan to the start line.
- Around 89km on road, on your feet for many hours, from a pre-dawn 05:30 start.
- Long Down-Run descents that batter the quads, plus the Big Five climbs to manage by effort.
- A strict cutoff near 12 hours, with intermediate checkpoints you must reach in time.
- Continuous fuelling from the gun: carbs, fluid, salt and real food, not marathon-style sips.
- A weekend long run building from 25km toward a peak of 55 to 70km, six to eight hours on feet.
- Downhill durability sessions of repeated controlled descents to toughen the quads for the Down Run.
- Back-to-back long weekends, a long run Saturday then another Sunday, to learn to run on tired legs.
- Cutoff-pace practice: holding your target medal-bracket pace late in a long run.
- Built from your current fitness and the time you actually have
- Adapts every week as Beina learns how you respond
- Syncs your sessions straight to Garmin and Wahoo
- One clear next session, never a wall of spreadsheet
