COMRADES MARATHON RUNNERS INVITED TO APPLY FOR ELITE & CONTENDER SEEDING
As the highly anticipated 2025 Comrades Marathon on Sunday 8 June draws closer, the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) is finalising the athlete seeding for the two start groups. While most runners will be seeded based on their qualifying times, a select few will receive special seeding allocations, as Elites or Contenders, positioning them at the front of Group 1 as contenders for major awards.
- Athletes who believe they are fast enough to challenge for the podium in any of the following categories are therefore invited to apply for an ‘upgraded’ seeding in the following categories (all for both men and women):
- Elite Athletes: The best of the best – those vying for the overall win or top 10 gold medal positions.
- Age Group Contenders: The fastest amongst the 40-49, 50-59, 60-69 and 70+ age categories, competing for a top-three finish in their age category or the number one spot in the 70+ category.
- Regional Awards: The first South Africans to cross the finish line, and the top three KwaZulu-Natal finishers (provided they finish within the top 30 men or women).
- First Novice Athletes: The highest placed athletes who are completing their first Comrades Marathon.
- Age Prize Contenders: The Comrades Marathon also has trophies for the oldest and youngest finishers, which will be awarded to both male and female categories for the first time this year.
Each of these categories has minimum qualifying standards (see below) and if athletes believe that they are eligible to be upgraded to either the Elite or Contender seeding categories, they (or their team/club manager) are invited to submit their application to entries@comrades.com . Note that the application period is from 13 May 2025 to 19 May 2025, and they will be informed by 24 May 2025 if their application has been accepted or rejected.
Elite & 40-49 Table
| DISTANCE | MALE TIME | FEMALE TIME |
| 42.2km | 02:24:59 | 02:59:59 |
| 48-50km | 02:59:59 | 03:40:59 |
| 52-54km | 03:08:59 | 03:51:59 |
| 56km | 03:24:59 | 04:14:59 |
| 50 miles | 05:21:59 | 06:19:59 |
| 100km | 06:45:00 | 08:14:59 |
Age Category Table
| CATEGORY | 42.2km | 48-50km | 52-54km | 56km | 60km | 64km | 68km | 80km | 90km | 100km |
| 50-59 Female | 03:13:59 | 04:03:00 | 04:26:00 | 04:36:00 | 04:57:00 | 05:19:00 | 05:41:00 | 06:48:00 | 07:47:00 | 08:46:00 |
| 50-59 Male | 02:41:59 | 03:18:00 | 03:41:00 | 03:49:00 | 04:06:00 | 04:24:00 | 04:43:00 | 05:39:00 | 06:27:00 | 07:16:00 |
| 60-69 Female | 03:53:59 | 04:46:00 | 05:20:00 | 05:32:00 | 05:58:00 | 06:24:00 | 06:51:00 | 08:14:00 | 09:25:00 | 10:38:00 |
| 60-69 Male | 03:01:00 | 03:41:00 | 04:07:00 | 04:16:00 | 04:36:00 | 04:56:00 | 05:17:00 | 06:21:00 | 07:17:00 | 08:13:00 |
| 70+ Female | 04:38:00 | 05:40:00 | 06:20:00 | 06:34:00 | 07:05:00 | 07:36:00 | 08:08:00 | 09:47:00 | 11:12:00 | 12:39:00 |
| 70+ Male | 03:50:00 | 04:42:00 | 05:16:00 | 05:27:00 | 05:52:00 | 06:19:00 | 06:46:00 | 08:08:00 | 09:19:00 | 10:32:00 |
Note: Athletes who narrowly miss out on Elite seeding will automatically be placed in the Contenders batch.
If athletes do not meet the criteria listed here for a specific category or award, but believe that they have what it takes to compete for that category or award, then they should still submit their application, with justification, to entries@comrades.com. These applications will be carefully considered, and confirmation or rejection will be communicated by 24 May 2025.
Important Notice: All athletes competing for ANY Comrades 2025 awards will start in A Batch of Start 1, which will be exclusively Elites and Contenders. The only exception applies to the club teams awards, which will be determined by the first four finishers from the same provincially registered club team, in the Open and 40+ age categories.
