ALL SET FOR TODAY’S VIRTUAL COMRADES
HAD the Covid-19 pandemic not brought everything to a standstill, Comrades Marathon multiple-gold medal winner Bongmusa Mthembu would have been at the starting line today.
Instead, the seven-time gold medallist and winner of the 2014, 2017 and 2018 marathons, will be among more than 30 000 registered runners taking part in the virtual event, Race The Comrades Legends.
Mthembu said he had continued with his training after the cancellation of the event even though he had no races lined up.
“I have been training and sticking to my diet to keep fit and active but my training is not of the same level and intensity,” he said.
“My plan had been to compete in the Two Oceans and Comrades Marathons and be selected for the 2020 IAU 100km World Championships in the Netherlands.”
Financially affected by the pandemic, Mthembu said his simple lifestyle had kept him afloat and his sponsors had been supportive.
First of its kind, the virtual event was created by the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) after the cancellation of the 2020 run.
Participants will run distances of 5km, 10km, 21,1km, 45km and 90km.
They will be competing against the times of past champions, including nine-time winner Bruce Fordyce, Samuel Tshabalala – the first black athlete to win the race – and Frith van der Merwe.
Runners will have 24 hours to complete their race on a treadmill, in their backyard or on the road. Finishing times will be submitted manually and all participants will receive a medal.
Cheryl Winn, CMA chairperson, said the entries had exceeded the association’s expectations and that the financial gains would alleviate some of their financial burdens.
“We had no idea that the virtual race would be as popular as it turned out to be, but before that it was always our intention that if we possibly could, we give substantial discounts to people that entered in 2020 for the 2021 Comrades Marathon,” she said.
The discounts were to make up for non-refunds after the cancellation of the 2020 race.
Winn said the association would not have been able to refund all entrants as they were nine months into race planning and had financial obligations.
“We had been paying salaries, rates, electricity, commission, consultancy fees. We had already purchased all the 2020 race T-shirts, which we can’t use next year, and we had already purchased all the goody bags and those are some of our big expenses,”she said.
“We had contracts with sponsorship and in terms of our contracts we have to give them certain rights in return. We were not going to be able to deliver those rights so we had to refund the majority of our sponsors.”
Winn said although the association has not been focusing on its 2021 plans, next year’s race would be cause for a big celebration.