Posted: June 30, 2006

Athletics: Comrades Shifts To Sunday Schedule

From David Monti

© 2006 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

By Riel Hauman

This year's Comrades Marathon, the 81st running of the world’s largest ultramarathon, was the last to be held on Youth Day, a public holiday in South Africa. In what is sure to be a controversial move, Athletics South Africa (ASA) has announced that in future the race will be run on Sundays, like nearly all of the world's top standard marathons.

The dates for the next three editions of the race have been set, but further discussions will be held on the potential impact the staging of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa may have before the date for that year is finalised.

The dates for the next three years are June 17, 2007; June 15, 2008; and June 14, 2009.

A joint statement from ASA and the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) said: "[We] considered the input and positions of KwaZulu-Natal Athletics and a wide range of stakeholders, [as well as] the impact of the race on local communities, traffic and commercial enterprise, on the road running fraternity and fixtures list, and other sporting and cultural events."

The race is held in alternate directions each year between the cities of Durban and Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal province on the east coast of South Africa.

"We have arrived at dates which will create a minimal disruption to other road users, residents and local enterprise, will be well-received by the road running community and which will enable us to retain a strong association with Youth Day without actually detracting from other commemorations on the day," said Dave Dixon, CMA Chairman.

The Comrades ultramarathon has –with a few exceptions– always been held on a public holiday. From the inception of the race in 1921 up to and including 1951 it was run on Empire Day, May 24. After Empire Day was abolished in 1951, the 1952 race was run on July 14 to coincide with the Queen's birthday, while the 1953 race was held on July 13.

The 1954 race was held on June 12, but from 1955 to 1994 the date was always May 31, Republic Day (as it became know after South Africa became a republic in 1961), with three exceptions (1959, 1964 and 1970).

After 1994 Republic Day was abolished and the 1995 race was on May 20, with the 1996 edition on June 17. Since then it has been held on Youth Day, June 16.

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