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Lead Stories: Monday, December 1, 2008

Prize Money Increase for Comrades Marathon

Posted December 8th, 2007 at 12:12 PM by Martin Kennedy

Section: News & Results, Marathons

comrades marathon logo south africa The 2008 Comrades Marathon, to be run on Sunday, June 15, will offer elite athletes a total of nearly R1.4 million (USD 210,000) in prize money, a record amount for any road race in South Africa and an increase of ten percent over 2007. The winner’s prize for both men and women goes up from R200,000 to R220,000 ($33,000) and the total winnings will be a whopping R1,398,900 ($209,800).

Speaking at the launch of the 2008 event in Johannesburg, Comrades Marathon general manager Gary Boshoff said that this move is in line with the international trend to reward elite performers handsomely. “We live in a professional era and ultramarathon stars deserve to be richly rewarded, just as sportsmen and women are in other sports. The Comrades Marathon is considered by the international fraternity to be the world’s greatest ultramarathon road race and we need to attract the best possible field. Last year we saw the impact a runner like Leonid Shvetsov can have on our event and we need to keep that momentum going,” he said.
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Race Recap: Spar Mercury Women’s 10-K Challenge

Posted June 25th, 2007 at 5:00 AM by Bob Ramsak

Section: News & Results

René Kalmer, a 26-year-old teacher from Krugersdorp, scored an emphatic victory in the second race of the Spar Grand Prix Series, storming away from the start and clocking a personal best of 32:54 in the Spar Mercury Women’s 10-k Challenge. After also having won the first race in the series, in Port Elizabeth on May 5, Kalmer now tops the points table with 66 points, 13 ahead of Poppy Mlambo, who finished third here.

Apart from Kalmer, the highlight of the day was produced by 42 year-old Russian Madina Biktagirova, who was sixth in a superb 34:59. Just a week ago, in the same stadium where this race also finished, Kingsmead, she finished third in the Comrades Marathon over a distance almost nine times farther than this.

Fellow veteran Grace de Oliveira, who won the last gold medal in the Comrades, was 24th here. Kalmer’s younger sister Christine, a student in civil engineering at the University of Arkansas, finished eighth in 35:27, her fastest time since 2004.
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Shvetsov Recorded Fastest Comrades Pace Ever

Posted June 20th, 2007 at 12:40 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons

The Comrades Marathon, the world’s largest and most famous ultramarathon, presents a unique challenge for the sport’s statisticians. Not only does the race change direction each year between Pietermaritzburg and Durban, but either gains or loses 670m (2197 feet) of elevation depending on the direction (Durban is at sea level). This year’s race as a “down” run.

In addition, the distance changes slightly depending on road work and other factors, so comparing performances from year to year, even for the same direction, is tricky.

The 82nd Comrades, held last Sunday, was contested over an 89.3 km (55.5 mi.) course. Winner Leonid Shvetsov covered the distance in 5:20:49, averaging three minutes, 35.6 seconds per kilometer (5:47.1 per mi.). According to our analysis, that makes Shvetsov’s the fastest paced in Comrade’s “down” run in history.
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Two deaths mar last Sunday’s Comrades Marathon

Posted June 19th, 2007 at 12:42 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons

Two runners who participated in the 82nd Comrades Marathon died on Sunday, one during the race and one afterwards. The ultramarathon, which had more than 12,000 entrants, was run over 89.3 km between Pietermaritzburg and Durban.

Michael Gordon (34) died shortly after being helped across the finish line by fellow runners. He apparently suffered a heart attack moments before crossing the line and although he was treated within seconds by the emergency medical team, he was declared dead when he arrived in the fully equipped field hospital in Kingsmead Stadium. It was Gordon’s first Comrades.

Willem Malapi (48) finished soon after Gordon and was also helped across the line by other runners. He was taken to the field hospital and then transferred in a critical condition to Durban’s St Augustine’s Hospital where he died at approximately 20:00 after his heart had stopped for a second time. Malapi was a seasoned runner with 14 Comrades under his belt. The cause of his death was announced as cardiac arrest after he had suffered an electrolyte imbalance.
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Stunning victory for Shvetsov at Comrades Marathon

Posted June 17th, 2007 at 4:32 PM by Adam Jacobs

Section: News & Results, Marathons

comrades marathon.gif Size doesn’t matter, at least not in the Comrades [Marathon].

Tall, strongly-muscled, long-striding Russian Leonid Shvetsov, 38, finally disproved the belief that big men can’t win the “down” Comrades when he shattered Bruce Fordyce’s venerable 21-year-old record in the ultramarathon between Pietermaritzburg and Durban by more than three minutes in what second placer Grigoriy Murzin described as the greatest ultradistance performance of all time over 89.3 km (55.5 mi.).

Shvetsov, who placed 13th in the 2004 Olympic Marathon and is 1.85m (6′ 4″) tall and weighs around 72 kg (158 lbs), finished in 5:20:49 to win by nine minutes, 31 seconds –-the biggest winning margin since Fordyce beat Mark Page by 10:46 in 1988. Shvetsov, who took the lead for good with more than 33 km to run, said afterwards that he felt the record could go soon after he ran through halfway of the 89.3 km distance. At halfway in Drummond he was still almost two minutes behind leader Petros Sosibo, who would eventually fade to 48th place.

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