The Comrades Marathon Up Run records could tumble next month when the 2026 edition of the race takes place between Durban and Pietermaritzburg on 14 June, according to the race director Sue Forge.
The organisers of the race announced on Thursday that this year’s race will be one of the shortest in history, at 85.777km, putting the men’s and women’s records in the crosshairs of the elite runners.
The previous shortest race distance was 85.910km in the 2024 Up Run, which also started in front of Durban City Hall and finished at the Scottsville Racecourse in Pietermaritzburg.
Records
The 2026 race will therefore be 133 metres shorter than the 2024 event, which itself was 820 metres shorter than the 2019 Up Run, measuring 86.730km.
The current men’s best time for the Up Run belongs to Leonid Shvetsov, who clocked 5:24:49 in the 2008 race, which finished at the Oval Cricket Stadium in Pietermaritzburg and measured 86.940km.
While the Up Run route has been slightly shorter than that most years since 2008 (except for the 87.720km of 2015), the nearest the winner has come to beating Shvetsov’s time has been 2024 winner Piet Wiersma, who posted a time of 5:25:00 over 85.910km.
The women’s best Up Run time was posted by four-time winner Gerda Steyn on the 2024 course, as she came home in 5:49:46 to shatter her own previous Up Run best of 5:58:53, set in 2019 on an 86.730km route.
Dijana or Wiersma?
That had also seen her become the first woman to achieve a sub-six hours finish on the Up Run.
“With the shortest route on record for the Up Run being run this year, coupled with lucrative cash incentives for runners to chase the best time and best pace records, we may see those records fall again in 2026,” said Forge.
Wiersma, the 2024 winner, is expected to be back in the field next month along with his main rival Tete Dijana, who’s won three of the last four races.
Edward Mothibi, winner in 2019, and Bongmusa Mthembu, a three-time winner, will also be looking to add to their titles.
Can anyone stop Steyn?
In the women’s race, it will be who can stop Steyn, who’ll be going all out for a fifth win and fourth in a row.
The Comrades Marathon Association gave some context around the race distances.
Prior to 1969, Comrades Marathon race distances were recorded in miles and were largely estimated rather than officially measured.
The Up Run was typically listed as approximately 54 miles, equivalent to 86.886km.
While the 2026 distance may therefore be the shortest in the history of the Up Run, and potentially the race overall, this cannot be confirmed with absolute certainty due to the absence of precise historical measurements.
