Russians & South Africans poised to dominate Comrades Marathon
Posted June 13th, 2007 at 10:13 AM by Bob Ramsak
Section: News & Results, Marathons
South African men have won the last three “down” Comrades Marathons, but it seems likely that a Russian will be first across the line this Sunday, June 17, when the 82nd running of the world’s largest ultramarathon takes place between Pietermaritzburg and Durban. The distance of the race this year is 89.3 km.
The ultramarathon will be run on a Sunday for the first time in history. This unpopular decision, widely seen in the running community as the result of the Comrades Marathon Association bowing under political pressure from governing body Athletics South Africa, has led to a decrease of about 15 percent in entries. The last few years the race was held on Youth Day (June 16), a highly politicized public holiday in post-apartheid South Africa.
Foreign women have dominated the Comrades in recent years, with the last local victory coming in 1998 when Rae Bisschoff won. Most pundits expect that this year will be no different.
Read the rest at our partner site: TrailFit.com
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Tags: aroslaw Janicki, Athletics South Africa, Bruce Fordyce, Claude Moshiywa, Comrades Marathon Association, Comrades Marathons, Durban, Elias Mabane, Farwa Mentoor, Fusi Nhlapo, Grace de Oliveira, Johan Oosthuizen, June 16, Kelehe, Leonid Shvetsov, Lindsay van Aswegen, Madeleen Otto, Madeleen Simmons, Madina Biktagirova, Marina Bychkova, Mene Olivier, Mohala Mohloli, Oleg Kharitonov, Olesya Nurgalieva, Pietermaritzburg, Rae Bisschoff, Riana van Niekerk, russia, Russian, Sipho Ngomane, South Africa, South African, Tatyana Zhirkova, ultra marathon, ultramarathon, Vladimir Kotov, Wally Hayward, worlds largest ultramarathon, Youth Day
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The Final Sprint
[…] Russians & South Africans poised to dominate Comrades <b>Marathon</b> […]
June 14th, 2007 at 2:18 amThe best write up on Comrades yet. Thanks!
June 14th, 2007 at 3:42 am[…] I’ve been meaning to write a post on who the favourite’s are for this year’s down running of Comrades, but I came across this syndicated article on The Final Sprint. It’s a good read into who’s competing and what kind of form they are in. […]
October 31st, 2008 at 4:43 pm