Comrades 2027: 28,000 Places, a Ballot for Half the Field, Entries Open 25 August

The short version

The launch we flagged on Monday happened this morning, and it replaced every open question with a number.

• Race day: Sunday, 13 June 2027, a down run from Pietermaritzburg City Hall
• Field: 28,000 places, the largest in Comrades history, up from 22,000 in 2026
• Entries open: Tuesday, 25 August 2026 at 10:00 SAST, in four windows
• The ballot: 52% of the field, applications 9 to 22 September
• Qualifier: a 42.2km marathon under 5 hours, between 15 June 2026 and 3 May 2027
• Fees: unchanged since 2022. R1,200 South Africa, R2,000 rest of Africa, R4,500 international
• Guaranteed route: 1,000 Amabeadibeadi charity places, R10,000 donation plus the entry fee, no ballot
• The slogan: "The Greatest Story Ever Run", with the campaign line "Honour History. Run the Legacy. Be the Story."

The centenary is 298 days away. Entries are online only, at comrades.com or in the Comrades Marathon app.

The four entry windows, and which one is yours

This is a hybrid process. Which window you enter in depends on what you have already earned, and the windows do not overlap. Miss yours and you are in the ballot with everyone else.

Tuesday 25 August, 10:00 SAST: Green Number and Yellow Number entries. First come, first served, with entry caps. This window closes on Monday 31 August at 16:30 SAST, or sooner if the caps fill. Amabeadibeadi charity entries open the same morning and close when the 1,000 cap is reached. That is a separate route with its own rules, and it is covered below.

Wednesday 2 September, 10:00 SAST: CMA members. Open for 72 hours, so through to Saturday 5 September, or until the cap is reached. First come, first served again. If you have been meaning to take out CMA membership, the maths on that just changed.

Wednesday 9 September, 10:00 SAST: general entry, by ballot application. Applications close Tuesday 22 September at 16:30 SAST. This is an application, not a race to click.

Wednesday 23 September: the draw. You find out the same day.

The ballot is the real change

For most runners reading this, one line matters more than the rest: 52% of the field goes to the ballot.

That is just over 14,000 places decided by a draw rather than by refresh speed. It is the fairest the entry has ever been for a runner without a green number, a yellow number or a CMA membership, and it is also the first time the centenary stops being a test of your internet connection.

It cuts both ways. A ballot means being ready on 25 August buys you nothing if you are not in one of the earlier categories, and it means no amount of preparation guarantees a start. Plan for a maybe.

Two practical consequences:

• If you qualify for an early window, use it. A guaranteed place beats a 50/50 draw, and the early windows are capped, so first come first served is literal.
• If you are heading for the ballot, apply early in the window anyway. Applications close 22 September at 16:30 and there is no reward for waiting, only the risk of forgetting.

Run for a cause, and skip the ballot

There is a fourth way in, and it does not involve a draw.

1,000 Amabeadibeadi special entries go on sale on Tuesday 25 August at 10:00 SAST and close when the cap is reached. The cost is R10,000 as a charitable donation, on top of the normal race entry fee, not instead of it. Open to South African, rest of Africa and international entrants alike, with a target of R10 million for the centenary.

Every Rand goes to the eight Amabeadibeadi charities:

• CHOC
• Childline KZN
• Community Chest Durban and Pietermaritzburg
• Hillcrest Aids Centre Trust
• Rise Against Hunger
• SANParks Honorary Rangers
• M.O.T.H
• Gift of the Givers

If R10,000 is out of reach, RACE4CHARITY is the open door. It stays available to every runner during the entry process, there is no ceiling on what you raise, and raising R6,000 or more qualifies you to start in the exclusive Race4Charity batch. That is a start position earned by fundraising rather than by seeding time, which for a lot of runners is the most achievable upgrade on offer.

Worth being clear about the trade: Amabeadibeadi is a guaranteed place for R10,000 plus your entry fee, at a moment when just over half the field is going to a draw. For a runner who has waited a hundred years' worth of build-up for this one, that is a real option rather than a footnote.

What it costs, and the ways it costs less

No increase. The last time Comrades raised entry fees was 2022, and the centenary holds the line:

• South Africa: R1,200
• Rest of Africa: R2,000
• International: R4,500

Three things worth knowing beyond the sticker price:

• Part payment. Pay 50% when you enter and settle the balance by 31 January 2027.
• 25 or more finishes, no fee. If you have earned 25 Comrades medals, the centenary is free.
• The Runners' Relief Fund. Up to 50% off for 1,500 South African runners who are unemployed or earn under R30,000 a year. Terms and conditions apply, and if that describes you or someone in your club, it is worth the application.

A new finish, and a longer race

The detail that did not make the entry graphics: the 2027 down run finishes at the Kings Park Sporting Precinct in Durban, the first time the race has ended there.

That changes the distance. The down run is usually about 89km. The centenary route comes out at roughly 91km, with organisers adjusting it to stay under 92km, and the official measurement still to be confirmed.

Two extra kilometres at the end of a down run is not a rounding error. It lands after the quads have taken 85km of descent, in the exact stretch where a down run does its damage. If you are working from an old down run split sheet or a previous finishing time, adjust your expectations before you adjust your training.