‘Comrades Centenary Hope Challenge’ is Launched

Riding on the coattails of last year’s virtual event success, Africa Marathons is super excited to invite you to join us for this year’s virtual event the Comrades Centenary Hope Challenge. Runners from around the world will be able to join in the celebratory spirit of the Comrades Marathon Centenary via its 2^nd virtual event in the race’s 100-year long history.

Ithemba – Hope Is

The Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) has announced that entries for the Comrades Centenary Hope Challenge virtual event will open from Thursday, 25 March 2021 at 12h00.

The Comrades Marathon virtual event, being only the second of its kind, since the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic a year ago, will take place on Sunday, 13 June 2021. You will be able to participate from any time between 00:01 am and 23:59 pm on the actual challenge date, within your local time zone.

The campaign slogan for this year’s event is ‘Ithemba – Hope Is’, and aims to contextualise each runner’s hopes, what the feeling means to you and to further inspire other athletes to dig deep and discover their own hopes and dreams for a better future and the new normal in a world ravaged by Covid-19.

The Route & Distance

The Comrades Centenary Hope Challenge will comprise 5 distances, namely 5km, 10km, 21.1km, 45km and 90km which will all be run virtually, meaning that you get to run your own race, along your chosen route anywhere in the world.

All you need to do is click on this link or the button below to register for the Comrades Centenary Hope Challenge; select your distance; support your favourite Comrades Marathon Official Charity if you so wish and make payment.

Please note: The CMA is making use of a very well known & trusted South African entry platform for this year’s entries called Entry Ninja. You can either register an account on Entry Ninja or log in with your Google or Facebook account (both icons will be on the login screen).

Entry Fees

International entry fees are as follows:

Distance	Amount
5km	ZAR700.00
10km	ZAR700.00
21.1km	ZAR850.00
45km	ZAR850.00
90km	ZAR850.00

* International Entry fees are inclusive of postage of medal and/or products.

Once registration is complete, you will receive all vital race information prior to the race.

Comrades Centenary Hope Challenge T-Shirt

An additional 15,000 limited-edition Comrades Centenary Hope Challenge T-Shirts will be available for purchase at ZAR250.00 each across all the Challenge distances.

This is a limited-edition entry only item.

Challenge Bibs

Challenge Bibs will be emailed to you on completion of entry. Entrants are encouraged to print out the Challenge Bibs and attach it to their running kit on Challenge Day.

You are encouraged to take images and videos wearing your Challenge Bibs or to participate with placards displaying your #HopeIs messages.
Posts should include the official hashtags: #Ithemba #HopeIs #ComradesCentenaryHopeChallenge

Challenge Timing

Your smart phone, smart watch, fitness watch or activity tracker is your personal ‘virtual timing chip’. Start the session and participate in your selected distance. When you reach the challenge distance you have entered, stop the session and simply, link your Strava, Garmin, Polar or Suunto account to your profile. We also support session file imports for GPX, TCX and FIT formats – and you will also be able to manually input running data.

Challenge Results

You need to upload your challenge data by 11:59pm on 13 June 2021 to qualify as a finisher.

Your time will be updated to the official results service for the challenge distance you participate in. Please also note, that even though your watch or phone may deduct pauses you may have taken during your session, we do not. We measure from start to finish!

The results will be published on the Comrades Marathon website and be fully available on the tracking app.

General Awards

Once you have completed your distance as entered and uploaded your results before the cut-off date/time, you will receive a virtual medal as well as a physical medal. You will also receive an online finisher’s certificate which you share with all family and friends.

Comrades Marathon Association Chairperson, Cheryl Winn has the following message, “We welcome all athletes to be a part of the Comrades Centenary Hope Challenge. With this being 100 years since the first running of the Comrades Marathon, we invite athletes from South Africa and the world to share in the remembrance and revelry of the world’s oldest, largest and greatest ultramarathon.”

You are also encouraged to please adhere to your local COVID-19 protocols and laws within your country and practice safe social distancing when you participate.

For more info on this year’s virtual event or Comrades Marathon 2022 please send us an email at [email protected]. You can enter the virtual event by clicking below.