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Writer's pictureThathe Msimango

'Well done to the sponsors for injecting the money' - Good news for top runners as CMA unveils new R7,6 million prize purse

Updated: Nov 8

On Wednesday 6 November, the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) launched the 2025 edition of The Ultimate Human Race under the slogan More Than A Race - Isiko Mpilo. The 98th edition of the world's oldest and largest ultra marathon will be a Down Run with the start at Pietermaritzburg City Hall and finishing in a new venue - People's Park near the Iconic Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban. But what got tongues wagging today besides the entry fee remaining the same at R1200, was the news that the prize money has been increased. 


The winner in both the men's or women's category will pocket a total of R874 000 compared to the R550 000 that Piet Wiersma and Gerda Steyn pocketed this year. Plus if any man can break Tete Dijana's 5:13:58 Down Run best and female can improve on Gerda Steyn's 5:44:54, then they will pocket an extra R550 000. It means that a whopping R7.6 million in prize money including the hotspot bonuses that will be forked out by Cell C, will be spent on top runners next year. 


Speaking at the launch which took place at Comrades Marathon House in Pietermaritzburg, Nedbank Running Club National Manager Nick Bester expressed joy for seeing the increase in prize money. The 1991 Comrades Champion says athletes will welcome the news as some make living out of running. 


"The prize money is amazing. When I saw it I thought of my old friend Bruce Fordyce on how he is going to feel about the prize money because he won it nine times and he could have been 10 million richer those days," laughed Bester.



"It's also good for the athletes since training for Comrades is a way of life as the new slogan says, it's More Than a Race. Plus athletes have to sacrifice a lot of things to win the race. On top of that, on race day, there are several athletes that can win the race, so it's not just about training well you must also eat well. Overall, I'm glad they increased the prize money and well done to all sponsors for injecting the money."


Meanwhile Martin Ngwenya who is Athletics manager at Maxed Elite Running Club says the prayers of the athletes have been answered by this progressive move. "I must applaud Comrades for increasing the prize money because most of the athletes in the past raised dissatisfaction about the low winnings. One of the athletes is Gift Kelehe if you can remember correctly. But now, I think it's enough for the athletes to run the race. Slowly we are seeing the change. At the end of the day, athletes have to change their lives."


The total prize purse is as follows:

 

CMA Prize Money

             5,083,000 

Cell C Top-up

             1,422,000 

Cell C Pace 

             1,000,000 

Cell C Hot Spot

                100,000 

Total

             7,605,000

 If you missed the launch, CLICK HERE to watch it.


Entries for all Non-Green Number Club runners open a week later on 13 November 2024 at 10h00. The total number of entries will be capped at 23,000. The entry period will close on 9 December 2024 at 16h30 or once the entry cap of 23,000 has been reached, whichever comes first. 





 

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