Comrades Marathon · 89 km · KwaZulu-Natal
Race-day support and seconding for the Comrades Marathon
Race Support runs staffed seconding points on the Comrades route for runners who do not have a club table waiting for them. You hand us your nutrition before the race. We hand it back to you at 30 km and at 60 km, from a crew that knows your number and is expecting you.
What seconding actually is
Comrades is 89 km between Pietermaritzburg and Durban, and the official race refreshment stations carry water, Coke and the race's own sports drink. For most runners that is not the plan they trained on. Seconding is the practice of having your own nutrition — your gels, your pre-mixed bottles, the things your stomach has already agreed to — handed to you at fixed points on the route.
South African running clubs have done this for decades. Club members drop labelled bags with their club before race day, and the club sets up a table at a known landmark. If you belong to one of those clubs, you are covered. If you are an international entrant, a first-timer, unattached, or travelling without a support crew, you are not — and that is the gap Race Support fills.
Comrades rules require seconds to stay stationary at the side of the road. Nobody may run alongside a competitor to hand them anything. Our points are built for exactly that: you come to a fixed table, you take your bag, you go.
How race day works
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Before
Pre-race nutrition drop-off
We confirm the time and place to hand over your race-day nutrition. It is packed into numbered bags that match a numbered armband you wear, so the right bag reaches the right runner without anyone reading a name tag at 60 km.
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30 km
Seconding point 1
The first nutrition window. Pre-mixed bottles, gels and a crew that calls your number as you approach — for when the body starts asking questions and the day is still long.
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60 km
Seconding point 2
The business end. This is where fuelling stops being a detail and starts deciding your finish. Your nutrition is in your hand, and so is the push you need to get to Durban.
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Finish
Finish line
The part you have been training for.
What is included
- Staffed seconding points at 30 km and 60 km, run by experienced team members.
- A numbered bag and armband system, so your nutrition is identified before you arrive rather than searched for while you wait.
- Purpose-built nutrition racks, professionally designed so a handover takes seconds. Time lost at a support table is time lost.
- A Coach Parry pacing band, personalised to your target finish time — a quiet coach on your wrist for 89 km.
- Hotel drop-off, so runners who have flown in never have to find a depot in a city they do not know.
- Live coordination on race day, so a crew is tracking the field rather than guessing.
Common questions
Do I need to be a club member to use Race Support?
No. Race Support exists precisely for runners without a club seconding table — international entrants, unattached runners and anyone travelling without their own crew.
Where are the seconding points on the Comrades route?
At roughly 30 km and 60 km. Exact positions are confirmed to booked athletes before race day, once the year's route direction and road closures are published.
What nutrition do you supply?
Yours. We do not substitute products or decide your fuelling plan for you. You hand over the gels, bottles and food you have trained on, and we stage them at the points where you will want them.
How do you know which bag is mine?
Every runner gets a numbered armband, and every bag carries the matching number. The crew works from numbers, which is faster and far less error-prone than names at 60 km.
Is private seconding allowed under Comrades rules?
Yes, within the race's rules. Seconds must remain stationary at the roadside and may not run alongside a competitor. Our points are fixed roadside tables, which is how the rule is designed to be met.
I have flown in for the race. Can you collect my nutrition?
Yes. Hotel drop-off is available, so you do not have to travel to a collection point before the race.
When is the next Comrades Marathon?
1 June 2027. Support bookings open ahead of the race — earlier is safer, because the points have a fixed capacity.
Also running Two Oceans?
We cover both of South Africa's iconic ultras. See race-day support for the Two Oceans Marathon, with seconding points at 18 km and 40 km.