COMRADES MARATHON REMAINS ON SCHEDULE
By Riël Hauman
(c) 2020 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved - Used with permission.

(18-Mar) -- Just days after South African President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national state of emergency, Athletics South Africa (ASA), the governing body of the sport in the Republic, announced that it has canceled all events for a 30-day period. This includes the national championships for primary schools, high schools, juniors (U16 to U20), and seniors.

"Under the ongoing guidance of the government on the virus," the statement said, "ASA will review and give more information after April 15 on the way forward, depending on the status of the virus in the country at the time. ASA will then make a decision on all postponed events."

Shortly on the heels of this decision, the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) announced that South Africa's second biggest ultramarathon will go ahead as scheduled on June 14. CMA Chairperson Cheryl Winn said in a statement: "With nearly three months to go to Comrades 2020, the CMA Board has decided that it is premature to postpone this year's Comrades Marathon. We will however continue to monitor the situation on a daily basis and will make a decision by 17 April depending upon how the situation evolves on whether to postpone [the race] to a date later in the year. We will make announcements and issue updates on an ongoing basis."

The 95th Comrades is a "down" run this year, from Pietermaritzburg to Durban.