The long road to reach a decision to cancel the 95th edition of the Comrades Marathon felt like an ultra-marathon in itself. Tensions between race organisers and Athletics South Africa bubbled before the decision was finally made.
On Thursday, Athletics South Africa confirmed that the 2020 edition of the iconic 89.9km Comrades Marathon between Durban and Pietermaritzburg had to concede defeat against the Covid-19 pandemic. It was cancelled, having initially been postponed from its original 14 June 2020 date.
After the initial postponement of the 2020 race, the CMA hoped to run the Comrades no later than September 2020. Beyond that, it would be too hot to stage the race and the safety of runners would be in jeopardy. CMA chairperson Cheryl Winn also explained that it was with “profound sadness and regret that the CMA Board, in conjunction with ASA and KwaZulu-Natal Athletics, had to make this decision. We do so with the knowledge that it will come as a great disappointment to thousands of Comrades runners, who together with us at CMA, have been holding out hope that the race would somehow proceed.
The Comrades joins the Two Oceans Marathon as two blue riband events that have been struck from the South African athletics calendar this year. The ASA National Championships were also cancelled due to the impact of Covid-19 as sports continue to reel under the devastation of the pandemic.
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