The marathon qualifier for the Comrades marathon is a hurdle that creates sleepless nights for  novice Comrades runners. But with planning you will soon have the marathon qualifier done and dusted.

A runner has to run a marathon under 5hrs (it used to be under 4 hrs 50 minutes) to qualify and a good first step is to check if you are fast enough to qualify.

It is tougher for older runners, and my oldest runner, John Wasserfall (pictured below), at the age of 72,  is about to run his marathon qualifier at the Cape Town marathon.

 It is challenging staying fast for older runners, but it can be done.

Patience is the name of the game for novices

If you are a novice runner, and have never run a marathon before, then the best is to run the marathon the year before the Comrades. For instance, I have novice runners that will run their marathon qualifier in October or November this year, and then build up for the Comrades marathon next year. 

A novice runner should not attempt to run her first marathon in the same year as the Comrades. Attempting to run a first marathon, the ultras for training, and then the Comrades all in the first half of the year, is risking injury. Every year I am amazed when novice runners approach me in January, and say that they plan to run the Comrades in June, even though they have only run half marathons. 

There is a temptation to underestimate how tough the Comrades is, as people watching it on TV see more than 20 000 runners of all shapes and sizes doing it. But it really is tough, and none of my 10 Comrades has been easy. It is a race that deserves respect and a runner needs to show patience and allow enough time to build up for it.

Good planning is key

Planning for your Comrades training is important and it starts with planning for your marathon qualifier and understanding the marathon qualification times. Note that runners can also qualify on ultras such as 50km and 56km . For those runners that won’t have run an early qualifier in October or November, the aim is to run the qualifier sometime between January and the beginning of March. This is despite the fact that you have until the beginning of May to qualify. Any runner that has not qualified by March, should be worried, as the Comrades high mileage training phase starts in the middle of March and by then you want the qualifier done and dusted. 

There is a Plan B for runners that are unable to qualify by early March, either due to injury, or perhaps not being fast enough. Gauteng runners have the Irene 48km race at the beginning of April as an option, and one of the advantages is that the qualifying time on the 48km, is the same as for a 50km. This means that a runner doing the 48 km scores two free kilometres, and this can make all the difference for slow runners. 

Popular marathon qualifiers 

For runners in South Africa, there are several popular marathon qualifiers. The earliest marathons in the year are at the end of January (such as the Akasia and the Johnson Crane). The problem though with using them as qualifiers, is that they are early in the year, and many runners aren’t ready yet for a marathon. To run well at the end of January, means that a runner has to train well through December and the holidays.  A good rule of thumb is to plan for a three month build up to the qualifier. Stronger runners can use these January marathons as long training runs though.

The best time for running a marathon qualifier is in February up to early March. Cape runners have the Peninsula marathon in February (but the wind can be a problem). The Cango Caves marathon and the Buffs marathon are both in February, and are popular with my runners as they are fast routes.

South Africa’s fastest marathon

The fastest marathon route in South Africa for a qualifier is the Elands marathon on March 1 in 2025, and most of my Gauteng runners use this race. It runs from Waterval Boven to Ngodwana. The only drawback is that it can be hot and humid. The timing of this marathon is also perfect as a runner can then rest for a week, and then start the big mileage build up. On the same weekend is the Vaal marathon (March 2), and it is also a good route. 

For KZN runners, there is the Hillcrest marathon on February 9 (quite hilly). The Durban City marathon is now on May 4, so too late for a qualifier.

There are also many other marathons that can be used around the country, and the main thing to remember is to plan for between February and March for your qualifier.

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