← Back to news
Road Running

Comrades 2027: Green, Yellow and Charity Entries Open at 10:00 This Morning

Comrades 2027: Green, Yellow and Charity Entries Open at 10:00 This Morning

The first entry window for the 100th Comrades Marathon opens this morning at 10:00 SAST, and it is a narrow one. Green Number, Yellow Number and Amabeadibeadi charity entries only, each with its own cap, closing the moment that cap is reached. If you are not in one of those three categories, today is not your morning, and clicking refresh will not change that.

The short version

The entry process announced at the launch starts moving today.

  • When: Tuesday, 25 August 2026, 10:00 SAST
  • Who: Green Number holders, Yellow Number holders, and Amabeadibeadi charity entrants
  • Where: online only, at comrades.com or in the Comrades Marathon app
  • The catch: every category is capped, and closes the moment its cap is reached
  • Otherwise it closes: Monday, 31 August at 16:30 SAST
  • Not today: CMA members, and everybody in the ballot

The Comrades Marathon Association put it plainly in its announcement: entries are limited and will close as soon as the cap for each category is reached.

If today is not your window, do nothing

This is the part worth being clear about, because a capped first-come-first-served window creates a lot of anxious refreshing among people it does not apply to.

Today covers three groups only. If you hold a green number or a yellow number, or you are taking the Amabeadibeadi charity route, this is your morning. Everyone else has a different date, and being early does not move you up a queue you are not standing in.

  • CMA members: Wednesday, 2 September at 10:00 SAST, open for 72 hours or until the cap fills
  • Everyone else: ballot applications from Wednesday, 9 September, closing Tuesday, 22 September at 16:30, with the draw on 23 September

The ballot holds 52% of the 28,000 places, so for most runners the centenary was always going to be decided by a draw on 23 September rather than by reaction speed today. Nothing you do this morning changes those odds.

The charity route, and why it is not a footnote

The third group in today's window is the one that is open to anybody, and it is the only guaranteed way into the centenary that does not involve a ballot.

1,000 Amabeadibeadi special entries go on sale at 10:00 this morning and close when that cap is reached. The cost is R10,000 as a charitable donation on top of the normal entry fee, not instead of it, and it is open to South African, rest of Africa and international entrants alike. The CMA is targeting R10 million for the centenary.

The money 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 and Gift of the Givers.

Worth doing the maths on the trade. Just over 14,000 places are going to a draw next month. R10,000 plus your entry fee converts a maybe into a yes, today. Whether that is worth it depends entirely on what the hundredth running is worth to you, and there is no wrong answer.

If R10,000 is out of reach, RACE4CHARITY stays open to every runner through the entry process. There is no ceiling on what you raise, and R6,000 or more qualifies you to start in the Race4Charity batch, which is a start position earned by fundraising rather than by seeding time.

Before you click, have these ready

The window is capped, so the runners who get in are the ones who are not hunting for a document at 10:04.

  • Your qualifier, or your plan to get one. A standard 42.2km marathon under 5 hours, run between 15 June 2026 and 3 May 2027. You can enter before you have run it, but no qualifier means no start line, whichever window let you in.
  • Your payment method. Fees are unchanged since 2022: R1,200 South Africa, R2,000 rest of Africa, R4,500 international.
  • The part payment option. Pay 50% now and settle the balance by 31 January 2027.
  • Your fee waiver, if you have earned one. 25 or more Comrades finishes and the centenary is free. The Runners' Relief Fund gives up to 50% off for 1,500 South African runners who are unemployed or earn under R30,000 a year.

Still need the qualifier?

Most people reading this have the entry sorted and the qualifier outstanding, which is the harder half.

Check a time you already have, or one you are aiming at:

Comrades 2027 Qualifying Check

Pick your race distance and enter a finish time to check it against the 100th Comrades qualifying standards. Add the race date and the check will tell you whether it falls inside the qualifying window.

South Africa's marathon season peaks from October to December, so the race that gets you to the centenary start line is probably one you have not entered yet, and the good ones fill.

If you are still deciding what to aim for on the day, the medal ladder is the honest place to start, and the official centenary training plans run from roughly 850km of total training for a Vic Clapham up to more than 3,200km for gold.

Dates to diarise

  • Tuesday 25 August 2026, 10:00 SAST: Green Number, Yellow Number and Amabeadibeadi charity entries open
  • Monday 31 August, 16:30 SAST: this window closes, or sooner if the caps fill
  • Wednesday 2 September, 10:00 SAST: CMA member entries open for 72 hours
  • Wednesday 9 September, 10:00 SAST: ballot applications open
  • Tuesday 22 September, 16:30 SAST: ballot applications close
  • Wednesday 23 September: the draw, with outcomes the same day
  • October to December 2026: SA marathon season, prime time for your qualifier
  • 31 January 2027: balance due if you took the part payment option
  • 3 May 2027: last day to qualify
  • Sunday 13 June 2027: the 100th Comrades Marathon

10:00 SAST today, and only if you are green, yellow or going the charity route. Everyone else has 2 September or the ballot from 9 September, and no amount of refreshing today changes that. The qualifier is the part nobody can enter for you. Find a marathon, build the plan, and send this to the clubmate who thinks today is general entry.