2024 Comrades Marathon road closures you should know about
Durban – The Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) has confirmed the road closures and alert notifications which will be effective over the Comrades race weekend.
These will take effect from about 4pm on Saturday, June 8, until 6.30pm on Sunday, June 9.
The 97th Comrades Marathon is an up run from Durban to Pietermaritzburg.
“Runners staying outside the Durban metro are advised to leave earlier than usual as they make their way to the start at the Durban City Hall, perhaps an hour earlier than they would normally do, as the ongoing roadworks and increased volume of traffic will definitely lead to congestion and a longer travelling time,” said CMA race and operations manager Ann Ashworth.
She advised Comrades supporters to make use of the more accessible spectator points in Hillcrest; Alverstone (at the intersection of the R103 and Alverstone Road); Drummond; Hammarsdale (at the intersection of the R103 and Thousand Hills Drive); Camperdown; Lynnfield Park and Ashburton.
The planned road closure schedule is as follows:
Last week, Ashworth factored in a 5-minute increase in the first cut-off at Pinetown.
“This is to account for the time taken for athletes at the back to cross the start line and having regard to the ongoing roadworks at Sherwood which may cause delays in the first 8km. The 5-minute time increase will also assist runners in pacing the first half of the race more consistently by reducing any pressure to start too fast. In addition, the Umlaas Road cut-off is at a new location closer to Pietermaritzburg, also due to ongoing roadworks, and the cut-off time has been adjusted accordingly,” Ashworth said.
All other cut-offs are unchanged from 2017 and 2019. Athletes will have 50 minutes to complete the race from the top of Polly Shortts, a distance of 6.84km.
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