CMA Facebook
The Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) Board has announced the cancellation of the Comrades Marathon scheduled for the 13th of June this year.
It’s the second year in a row that one of the world’s most famous Ultra Marathons has been cancelled because of COVID-19.
The CMA says the decision to cancel will come as an enormous disappointment to tens of thousands of runners; and has also been a tough call for CMA organisers to make, in what is the event’s Centenary year.
The decision comes in the wake of engagements with KwaZulu-Natal Athletics, Athletics South Africa, the National Coronavirus Command Council, members of the medical fraternity and governmental departments; given the ongoing uncertainty and unprecedented circumstances of the Coronavirus pandemic.
CMA Chairperson Cheryl Winn says the impending third wave of Covid-19, which is widely anticipated around April to June this year, has made the hopes of hosting mass events in the near future highly unlikely.
Winn says however, that the Comrades Centenary Celebrations are imminent.
With the very first Comrades Marathon having been held on Tuesday, 24 May 1921, the CMA will launch its Centenary Celebrations on Monday, 24 May 2021.
The CMA has also confirmed that its 2nd Comrades Marathon virtual event will take place on Sunday, 13 June 2021, in a similar fashion to last year’s successful inaugural Race the Comrades Legends which saw 43 788 participants from more than 100 nations uniting in a single virtual event.
