Comrades Confirms 2027 Date for Its 100th Running as Federation Fight Heads to Court

The Comrades Marathon Association confirmed on Wednesday that the 100th Comrades Marathon will take place on June 13, 2027, rejecting what it called “inaccurate and incomplete statements from various bodies and media” suggesting the centenary race was in doubt.

The confirmation came a day after Athletics South Africa (ASA), the national federation, sided with KwaZulu-Natal Athletics (KZNA) in the dispute over who must approve the race date, declaring “null and void” any “purported approval” its own officials might have given, as reported by TimesLIVE. A high court case between KZNA and the CMA is expected within days.

“The Comrades Marathon is bigger than any person or organisation,” CMA chairperson Mark Leathers said in the statement. “Thanks to our wonderful host cities, partners, sponsors and community of runners, volunteers and supporters, the planning and permissions relating to the 100th running are moving full steam ahead.”

The standoff has been building for more than a year. The CMA, a nonprofit of roughly 8,000 members, walked away from its KZNA membership after concluding that the provincial body was trying to take control of how the race is run, according to TimesLIVE. KZNA also says the association owes it levies from the 2026 race, Sunday World reported.

On July 7, KZNA sent the CMA a lawyer’s letter stating that the 2027 race had not been sanctioned, demanding the association stop announcing it, and threatening an urgent interdict to stop the event before race entries open, TimesLIVE reported. The CMA countered that the date had been approved at national level: ASA board member Enoch Skosana, who chairs the federation’s road running committee, had confirmed the June 13, 2027 and June 11, 2028 dates in writing to CMA general manager Alain Dalais, along with those of other recurring races such as the Two Oceans and the Cape Town Marathon. “When it’s an annual race it’s common sense,” Skosana told TimesLIVE.

ASA’s statement on Wednesday reversed that position. The CMA, it said, falls under KZNA’s jurisdiction, and every athletics event must be sanctioned through the national federation and its provincial structures. The CMA’s legal reply, quoted by TimesLIVE, disputes the premise: no South African statute, it argues, requires a race organizer to be affiliated with any federation, and KZNA’s constitution binds only its own members. Officials from all three bodies met on July 10, a meeting the CMA’s statement described as ending “on a positive note,” with no firm decisions and discussions ongoing.

The fight is the latest in a string of governance and payment disputes in South African road running, and it involves the country’s biggest race. First run in 1921, Comrades is the world’s oldest ultramarathon, held every year since except during the Second World War and the COVID-19 pandemic, which is why the June 14 up run was the 99th edition rather than the 106th. That race drew 21,633 entrants, and Gerda Steyn won a fifth women’s title while George Kusche broke an 18-year-old up-run record. The CMA’s statement put the race’s economic contribution in the billions of rand; TimesLIVE has reported it is worth more than R600 million a year to KwaZulu-Natal’s economy.

Two dates now matter more than the one the CMA confirmed. The high court case is expected to be heard within days, and on Aug. 1 the association’s members are set to decide the affiliation question at a special general meeting. “All options will be thoroughly discussed at the upcoming SGM, following which the CMA will announce its plans for the road forward,” Leathers said.