Looking to run the Comrades next year? With CN&CO founder Carel Nolte having joined the board of the Comrades Marathon Association, we’ve been receiving a lot of news and info concerning the race. This blog is from our friend Stuart Mann, aka The Running Mann, showing a list of qualifying races you can do in your run up to the 100th Comrades in 2027.

After a very quiet August, Marathon running kicks into gear again as Spring hits Mzansi with 18 confirmed marathons to choose from.

Weekend One

The first weekend of September kicks off with the Musina Marathon which is on the northern extremities of Limpopo. Musina is where the devil spends his winters when he wants to warm up. It’s a place where your entry level sunblock is Factor 50. Legend has it that a visiting Scotsman made the fatal mistake of sitting down on the pavement and ended up with hard boiled eggs in under three minutes. In other words, this is a fantastic place for a connoisseur to run a marathon. The route is mainly out-and-back with a couple of small loops thrown in with just 209m of elevation gain over the marathon. There’s plenty of interesting sights along the way. This is a place where one appreciates the loneliness and beauty of running in rural Limpopo. The baobab trees are the most striking feature of the terrain and is perhaps the only tree that is more attractive and interesting when naked rather than fully leafed.

On Sunday there is the Tony Viljoen Masters Marathon in East London which is pure, unadulterated marathon running erotica. Nothing but feathers, tender caresses and light tickles; A gentle frolic as you tenderly work your way down from an altitude of 600m to a sea-level climax. The route follows the N6 for 95% of the race and there is absolutely no kink at all until the 40km mark when you veer into the suburbs. This marathon is light petting, PG-rated first base action all the way. There are no quad crushing downhills – just a long, gradual, tantric drop to home base (and a very soft landing) at Feathers in Beacon Bay. There are a couple of minor uphills along the way but nothing that will leave any marks or bruises the next day. No safe words required. This is a race that treats you well, is guaranteed to leave you with a smile on your face and will respect you the next morning.
I make this the easiest marathon in the country.

Your final option this weekend is the aQuelle Zone 3 Marathon around Randburg. With this being the first marathon in Gauteng after the post-Comrades hiatus, spirits are high and the spring flowers are out. There are a few pulls but nothing too steep or too long and the total elevation gain is 531m. The forgiving double-lap route reaches its high point at 13km and then keeps going gently down all the way to 19km. You’ll enjoy this section even more on the second lap but prepare yourself for a final 2km of uphill. A bonus is that much of the running is through shaded avenues.

You can expect excellent organisation from the RunZone team. As someone who is prone to picking up a bit of extra baggage over the winter period, it’s great to have this event in my backyard to herald in spring and the start of the new running season. This race is becoming an integral part of my post-hibernation weight loss program – ideal for an annual spring clean.

Weekend Two

Weekend two’s highlight is undoubtedly the Barberton Makhonjwa Mountain Marathon which is my “must do” marathon in Mpumalanga. This is a marathon that can take one’s breath away – both literally and figuratively. I normally prefer to listen to my rock rather than look at them but during the Barberton Makhonjwa Mountain Marathon I’ll make an exception. The route starts on the eSwatini border and traverses the World Heritage Site whose 3,5 billion year old Barberton Greenstone Belt features some of the oldest and best preserved sequences of volcanic and sedimentary rocks on Earth.

When the people of Mpumalanga put “Mountain” in their marathon titles they don’t mess around. I got exactly 1111m of elevation gain along the route. The first section of the route is characterised by stunning, awe inspiring vistas and unrelenting hills followed by a delightful downhill section from 17 to 27km. From there, prepare yourself for the toughest climb of the day to 31km.

The interesting thing about this route is that the finish is 500m lower than the start, so this is officially a “downhill” marathon but the only similarity to Kaapsehoop, Elands and the NMC Fast One is that they are all in Mpumalanga. Most of the downhill occurs over a quad shattering 7.5km plummet from 31 to 38.5km. This is definitely a segment where heavy vehicles want to engage lowest gear with an ear popping 650m of rapid descent.

The John Nugent Marathon is named after a prominent Upington optometrist who died of cancer in 2014. The two-lap route provides a highlights package of Upington with stretches along the Orange River, vineyards, pecan orchards and scenic suburbs. Bring your all surface shoes because you’ll be running on farm roads, jeep tracks and tarmac. Although this is a flat course, there is a nasty heartbreak hill towards the end of each lap to make sure you earn your unique medal which is in the format of a pair of spectacles.

In rural Limpopo you’ve got the moderate out-and-back Masingita Mall Marathon and there is a new marathon in Pretoria on Sunday sponsored by Kit Kat Cash & Carry but I have not been able to obtain any additional information from the organisers.

Sunday’s second option is the Vaal River City Marathon. Despite the name, Vaal River City, you should not expect to see a river of any kind during the race and, depending on your definition of civilisation, it is also debatable whether you see a city either. Vanderbijlpark makes Benoni look like the French Riviera and the fast and flat double-lapper is unlikely to provide any visual distractions – but the runners are usually full of post-Comrades chatter so this is a great chance to greet some old friends and make some new ones.

Weekend Three

One of my definite top 10 marathons, the Voet van Afrika, headlines the third weekend. This is one that all real marathoners need to do at least once. The best summary I’ve heard of this route is, “The first half screws up your legs and the second half screws up your mind.” A unique route that takes you up and over the Soetmuisberg along farmland, gravel road, jeep tracks and mountain paths. After 25 kilometres surrounded by exquisite indigenous fynbos, there is a rude awakening as you are dumped onto the tar at Napier – and those who’ve counted the undulations to the finish at the Bredasdorp High School claim there are 16 hills over the last 17 kilometres.

Whilst some races rebrand their catch phrase annually, the Voet has stuck with “The toughest race with the warmest heart!” for as long as I can remember (and having run 11 Voets I can confirm that this is not just a marketing slogan).

Your second Saturday option is the Emalahleni City Marathon which is an easy option for the Gautengers and on Sunday we see the Balwin Sport Jeppe Marathon in its new September slot as well as the point-to-point Elliot Madeira Marathon in Mthatha.

Jeppe gives Joburg runners the opportunity to hurtle around a double-lap Bedfordview and Edenvale route. Some runners think this course is tough (but they are wrong and need to get out more). Although there are one or two short, sharp steep pulls, most of the climbing is gentle – the highest-lowest point elevation difference is just 76m. You also do most of the hard work on the first half of the lap, hit the highest point (1672m) and then fly home from Gillooly’s Farm to the finish (1596m). You just need to remember to leave a little in the tank for a nasty pull in the last kilometre.

Heritage Day

The Memel to Newcastle Ultra returns for the first time since 2019. This is a lowkey 51.4km race from Memel (the coldest town in the Free State) to Newcastle in Kwazulu Natal. The race is run along the historic Battlefields Route and provides breath-taking views once the early morning fog lifts. Expect great support tables and plenty of small-town hospitality along the way. Although the race starts over 1,700m above sea level and finishes around 1,200m, this is by no means an ‘easy ultra’. There are plenty of climbs along the way – and you’ll warm up quickly from your sub-zero start with a 17km climb to Botha’s Pass before dropping into Kwazulu Natal.

Weekend Four

My pick of the final weekend is the Great Kei Marathon. The race is organised by the Original Mambas and my article on the race draws parallels between Cobra Kai karate and Great Kei marathon running: A simple route description is that the profile ‘strikes first’ at 3km with a monstrous hill, proceeds to ‘strike hard’ for most of the rest of the race before delivering a final, brutal kill shot with a 1.2km kilometre ‘no mercy’ hill to the finish line. I’m just glad no one tried to “sweep the leg” over the last 10 kilometres. Fantastic marathon – highly recommended.

There are also two low-key marathons in rural Limpopo, the Fetakgomo Tubatse and Thavhani Mall. A new addition in KZN is the Durban Sunrise Marathon and a Mossel Bay Marathon has also appeared on the calendar. I am trying to verify whether this is the same route as the old PetroSA Marathon.