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Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) chair Mark Leathers insists the association remains committed to engaging Athletics SA (ASA) but says the relationship can no longer be one-sided.
ASA announced on Tuesday that it had omitted the 2027 Comrades Marathon from its fixture list, distancing itself from the “Ultimate Human Race”.
The 100th edition of the iconic race, scheduled for June 13 next year, was launched at Kings Park Stadium in Durban, which will host the 28,000 runners expected to finish.
CMA members recently voted not to reaffiliate with KwaZulu-Natal Athletics (KZNA) after ASA had rejected CMA’s request for direct membership.
Speaking after the launch on Wednesday, Leathers said the concern with ASA was that money kept disappearing at the association and they did not want to be associated with that.
“We’ve already reached out to KZNA athletics and ASA to say when you figure out what you see this new relationship being, how you see your role, please come sit with us,” Leathers told journalists after the launch.
From next year, runners don’t have to be in possession of an ASA licence. But that said, the qualifications remain exactly the same. Most runners will be running ASA-sanctioned or provincially sanctioned races to meet qualification criteria
— Mark Leathers, Comrades Marathon Association chair
“The CMA remains committed to be involved, engaging with all stakeholders including the federations. But our members gave a direction that this cannot be a one-sided thing anymore. The federations need to figure out what they bring to the table and, with regard to development, we need to improve governance.
“The sad part is a large amount of money has been flowing into the federations, but the U/20 [team] this year could not be sent to the Oregon World Athletics competition because ASA said they did not have the money.
“That is the concern for CMA, that money is disappearing and it is not going where it is supposed to go.”
Despite the race not being sanctioned, Leathers said the association didn’t see any negatives in the future and said runners would still use the ASA-sanctioned races to qualify.
“From next year, runners don’t have to be in possession of an ASA licence. But that said, the qualifications remain exactly the same. Most runners will be running ASA-sanctioned or provincially sanctioned races to meet qualification criteria,” he said.
“So for the official Comrades Marathon, no official ASA licence will be required but practically runners are mostly likely to have them in order to complete their qualifiers.”
It was revealed at the launch that runners with yellow numbers (having completed nine Comrades) and green numbers would have a priority entry window between August 25 and 31, while CMA members will apply from September 2-5 on the basis of first come, first served.
General entries for other runners would be available via a ballot system from September 9-22. The men’s and women’s winners will get R1m each.
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