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COMRADES MARATHON - Increase in Prize Money ©Comrades Marathon Organization
COMRADES MARATHON – Increase in Prize Money
‘An athlete cannot run with money in his pockets. He must run with hope in his heart and dreams
in his head.’ – Emil Zatopek, Czechoslovakian athlete
The wise words of this former runner may ring true for most athletes but the reward at any race is definitely a motivating factor, more so for the top-notch competitors in the world’s greatest ultra-marathon, the Comrades Marathon.
With this in mind, the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) has increased its monetary rewards for the 2012 leg of the Ultimate Human Race by nearly twenty percent across the board, as compared to last year. This translates into an astounding R2.653.700.00 in total cash prizes, the highest amount paid out in any South African road-running fixture.
The 2012 male and female winners will each run off with a first prize of R300.000 as opposed to the current award of R250.000, followed by a second position prize of R145.000 and R110.000 for third position versus the going amount of R120.000 and R90.000 respectively. Up for grabs at the 2011 Comrades Marathon was a total amount of R2.223.000.00, nearly half a million rand less than next year’s bounty.
Prize Money for 2012:
| Position | Men & Women |
| 1 | R 300,000.00 |
| 2 | R 145,000.00 |
| 3 | R 110,000.00 |
| 4 | R 55,000.00 |
| 5 | R 42,000.00 |
| 6 | R 25,000.00 |
| 7 | R 20,000.00 |
| 8 | R 18,000.00 |
| 9 | R 16,000.00 |
| 10 | R 14,000.00 |
In addition to the above prize money, any man or woman breaking the current Comrades down-run records held by Leonid Shvetsov and Frith van der Merwe respectively, will be paid out an amount of R300.000 each, as well as other rewards should they qualify, like Hotspot Prizes and Age Categories.
Encouragement for South African and KwaZulu-Natal runners comes in the form of prizes for First South African Man and Woman and First KwaZulu-Natal Man and Woman. Team prizes also go out to the winning teams who not only receive a lucrative cash prize but also the hotly contested Gunga-Din Trophy which was awarded to Toyota Athletic Club in Central Gauteng this year.
CMA Race Director Johan van Staden says: ‘The Comrades Marathon is not just the biggest ultra-marathon in South Africa but the largest in the world. To this end, it is only natural that The Ultimate Human Race attracts the cream of the crop when it comes to top runners. We aim to keep these competitors motivated and fired up, and to aptly reward them for their enduring accomplishments at the end of their annual Comrades journey.’
Entries for the 2012 edition of the iconic event opened today (1.9.2011) and close in exactly three months time. The 12-hour race will be a down-run from Pietermaritzburg’s City Hall and ends at Durban’s Sahara-Kingsmead Stadium, with the gun firing off at 5h30 on Sunday, 3 June.
Statement released on Thursday, 01 September 2011
