Comrades Marathon releases new cut-offs for 98th edition of the race
Picture: Rafiq Wagiet/EWNSport
JOHANNESBURG – The Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) has released the cut-offs that will be applied along the route for the 98th edition of the race on Sunday, 8 June.
“Although there will be two starts on race morning, at 5:45am and 6am, there will only be one set of cut-off times that come into effect after the second start at 6am. The good news for the runners at the back of the field is that the staggered start will save them up to five minutes,” said CMA General Manager Alain Dalais.
These 2025 cut-offs introduce a completely different approach by the CMA, with the cut-off times designed to avoid negatively impacting any runners who have qualified for the race and are capable of reaching the finish in 12 hours or less on race day.
“The cut-offs are designed around the dismantling of race operations, cleaning up the route and the re-opening of the roads to traffic, but generous times have been given at each cut-off point, and runners who have not passed through a cut-off in time will be unable to continue the race. Safety is paramount, and we cannot allow runners who simply want to carry on to make that decision, hence they will be required to stop by these times,” said Dalais.
According to the CMA the average pace required for a 12-hour finish for the total 89.98km race distance is eight minutes per kilometre (8:00/km), and the most notable aspect of the 2025 cut-offs is that not one of the 2025 intermediate cut-off points will require runners to maintain this pace.
Runners will be given generous time limits to reach the first few cut-off points: Over 10:00/km pace to Cato Ridge (30.5km), and just short of 9:00/km to halfway in Drummond (45km), thus placing less pressure on runners to go faster than comfortable in the first half. This will make it possible for runners to employ a negative splits strategy, conserving energy in the first half in order to run faster and stronger in the second half.
Runners will be aware of their own pacing, and if they fail to reach these points within these extended cut-offs, then their chance of completing the whole race at an overall 8:00/km average is extremely slim,” says CMA Board Member Alan Gray, who also heads up the Race Advisory Committee (RAC).
“The cut-offs have been set so that anyone capable of maintaining the required pace to the finish will be allowed to continue. For example, runners who may have been delayed while waiting to meet up with supporters for a change of shoes, but who pass through a cut-off point within the allowed time and still maintaining a significantly faster pace, will be allowed to continue. If those runners fail to maintain their pace, they will be removed from the race at the next cut-off point on the route,” said Gray.