South African holds world’s oldest ultramarathon

More than 20,000 runners took part in the world’s oldest and largest ultramarathon earlier this month, a nearly 55-mile (89 kilometers) race between the South African cities of Durban and Pietermaritzburg.

>The Comrades race has been held every year since 1921, pausing only during World War II and the COVID-19 pandemic. It is unusual due to the fact that it changes direction every year, meaning that on an “up-run” year, runners must climb 5,905 feet (1,800 meters) to Pietermaritzburg, which is 650 meters higher than coastal Durban.

>The race’s long history means it has also become symbolic of South Africa’s desegregation process following the end of apartheid: “You would have these scenes in the 1980s of a white runner sharing a bottle of water with a black runner, which was such a small gesture, but such a huge thing in that society that was so divided,” one South African sports journalist told The Guardian.

>South African long-distance running also recently enjoyed another significant milestone when Cape Town became the eighth city to be granted the status as a World Marathon Major and the first in Africa.