The 100th Comrades Marathon Is Set for 13 June 2027, and the Road There Starts Now
History has a date: the 100th Comrades Marathon runs on Sunday, 13 June 2027, an 89km down run from Pietermaritzburg to Durban. The official training plans covering July 2026 to January 2027 are already live, built by official coach Lindsey Parry for every medal target. And the community gets to name the moment: the centenary slogan competition is open until 17 July 2026.
The short version
The Comrades Marathon Association has locked in the date every South African runner has been waiting for: the 100th Comrades Marathon will be run on Sunday, 13 June 2027, an 89km down run from Pietermaritzburg to Durban.
A century of the Ultimate Human Race deserves a proper build-up, and it's already begun. The official training plans covering July 2026 to January 2027 are live, a centenary slogan competition is open until 17 July, and the organisers have promised a wave of centenary announcements through July. Fresh off a record-smashing 99th edition, the biggest ultramarathon in the world is about to stage the biggest edition in its history.
Why the 100th is bigger than a birthday
The first Comrades was run on 24 May 1921, when 34 runners set out from Pietermaritzburg to honour soldiers who fell in the First World War. That the 100th edition arrives 106 years later tells its own story: the race stopped only for the Second World War, and it has outlasted everything else thrown at it.
The centenary lands on a down run, the direction the field loves most: a net descent into Durban that punishes quads and rewards brave running. It's also the direction of the fastest times ever recorded at Comrades, which sets up a mouth-watering question after George Kusche demolished the up-run record and Gerda Steyn claimed her fifth title in June. Both are expected on the centenary start line.
Expect demand like the race has never seen. The 2026 edition capped at 22,000 and filled with a record qualification rate; a centenary down run will be the hottest ticket in South African sport. Entry details haven't been announced yet, but if the 100th is your goal, assume nothing about getting in late.
The official training plans are already live
The CMA isn't waiting for entries to open. The official Comrades training plans for July 2026 to January 2027 are live now at comrades.com/training-plans, built by official race coach Lindsey Parry, with a plan for every target on the medal ladder: from Vic Clapham survival through Bill Rowan and silver ambitions.
The scale of the undertaking is honest: depending on your medal target, the road to Comrades runs from roughly 850km of total training for a Vic Clapham to more than 3,200km for gold. July to January is the foundation phase, which is exactly the point: the runners who cruise up Polly Shortts in June 2027 are the ones who started laying kilometres now.
One thing the official plans assume you already have: a qualifying marathon. Recent editions required a standard marathon inside the qualifying window (sub-4:50 in recent years), and South Africa's qualifier season peaks from October to December. That race deserves its own plan. Build one with the Slow Miles race plan builder: pick your marathon, set a goal time, and get a week-by-week schedule with strides, tempo work, deload weeks and a benchmark time trial along the way. Then find your qualifying race and put it on the calendar.
Name the centenary: the slogan competition
The CMA wants the community to write the centenary's tagline. The official slogan competition is open to everyone: green number legends, novices, and supporters alike.
To enter, email your slogan to info@comrades.com with the subject line "2027 Comrades Marathon slogan", stating the slogan, the language it comes from, and its meaning in one or two lines. Entries close Friday, 17 July 2026 at 16h30, and the top three finalists each walk away with an exclusive Comrades hamper.
A hundred editions of courage and Ubuntu, summed up in a phrase: someone in this community has those words. It may as well be you.
Dates to diarise
- 17 July 2026, 16h30: centenary slogan competition closes
- July 2026: more centenary announcements promised, with entry details to follow
- October to December 2026: SA marathon season, prime time for your qualifier
- Sunday, 13 June 2027: the 100th Comrades Marathon, Pietermaritzburg to Durban
The road to the most historic start line in ultrarunning is open. Consistency between now and January is what decides how it feels in June.