{"id":872352,"date":"2026-08-30T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=872352"},"modified":"2026-08-28T16:34:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T14:34:23","slug":"the-hidden-value-of-the-comrades-marathon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/872352\/the-hidden-value-of-the-comrades-marathon\/","title":{"rendered":"The hidden value of the Comrades Marathon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Comrades Marathon in KwaZulu-Natal acts as a significant economic booster for the area’s various business sectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Comrades Marathon began in 1921, as a way to commemorate South African soldiers who had died in World War 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The original event had 34 participants, who attempted to run from Pietermaritzburg to Durban, with only 16 finishers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The race course goes between Durban and Pietermaritzburg, with the start and finish cities alternating every year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The course has undergone several iterations since the race began, and today it is between 88km and 90km, more than double the length of a traditional marathon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2026, over 20,000 competitors started the race, with a finish rate of approximately 89.8% \u2013 a slight increase from previous years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The scale of the event presents a significant opportunity for hotels and guest houses in the two cities, which benefit from the large number of participants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traditional accommodations, such as hotels, are typically fully booked well in advance of the race, and many schools and other businesses in the area also host runners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Along with accommodation, the high number of participants typically provides a large cash injection for local businesses and tourism groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Comrades Marathon is an internationally recognised event and draws a large number of both domestic and global participants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This provides a significant boost to KwaZulu-Natal’s tourism industry, with many runners staying in the area for more than just the weekend the race is held.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its popularity on the global stage was evident in 2026, with roughly 11.2% of entrants from outside South Africa and 5.7% from outside Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In total, there were entrants from 75 countries. South Africa had the highest number of participants, and Zimbabwe, India, and the UK were the next three countries with the most entries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The race itself also has an economic impact, with research from 2012 indicating that 600 jobs were dependent on the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The results show that Comrades Marathon contributes significantly to the provincial economy and that more than 600 jobs are dependent on the event,” research by Melville and Andrea Saayman found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2012, the number of Comrades Marathon runners was approximately 18,000, showing that the event has grown by approximately 2,000 runners since then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The R1 billion event<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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While there is no specific figure for the economic benefit the Comrades Marathon provides, many estimate it at over R1 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Future Leader Forum CEO Nik Eberl estimated that the race contributes between R2.6 billion and R3.2 billion to KwaZulu-Natal’s economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The number comes from approximately 40,000 visitors during the event, including runners and their friends and family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The average spend of these visitors was estimated between R3,500 and R5,000, including accommodation, food, transport, and entertainment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eberl argued that the race was significant in supporting thousands of jobs and directly impacted entire economic sectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said it should not be seen as an expense for an area, but rather as key economic infrastructure for the province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The economic value created by Comrades demonstrates a critical lesson: great event brands are economic infrastructure,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Just as ports facilitate trade and roads enable mobility, iconic event brands generate recurring economic activity.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other estimates place the Comrades Marathon’s overall contribution closer to R1 billion<\/a>, with the majority benefitting the city where the race starts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

KwaZulu-Natal Premier, Thami Ntuli, said the race is a major economic driver for the area, particularly in accommodation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the build-up to the 2026 Comrades Marathon, Ntuli commented on the impact the event would have on the province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Hotels and accommodation establishments in Durban, Pietermaritzburg and surrounding areas are experiencing exceptionally high occupancy levels, which will provide a significant boost to our provincial economy,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photos of the Comrades Marathon<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The Comrades Marathon is a major economic contributor to KwaZulu-Natal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":872391,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2094017563307000292","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2190912775062455","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18579803605071086","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[26212,19049,26312,26313],"class_list":["post-872352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-comrades-marathon","tag-kwazulu-natal","tag-nik-eberl","tag-thami-ntuli"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=872352"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872352\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":872403,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872352\/revisions\/872403"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/872391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=872352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=872352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=872352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}