STATISTICS
Entry Stats & Facts # 1
Nothing makes a statistically-minded runner like me more excited than getting my hands on a database as rich in info as the Comrades Marathon entries database, and I had hours of fun going through it all and finding these interesting stats and stories. – BY THE RUNNING MANN
AVERAGE AGE OF QUALIFIERS
The average age of the class of 2025 is 44.5 – exactly the same as in 2024. Therefore, this is the joint oldest group of starters at any Comrades Marathon where age records exist. The average age of the Comrades runner has steadily increased since 1990, from 35 to over 44 post-COVID. This may become a problem for the future of the race, if the trend continues.
Two noticeable step changes happened in this development. The first was a full year increase from 39 to 40 in 2003, when the cut-off time was permanently increased to 12 hours. However, the biggest increase was the first post-COVID event, which went from 42.1 in 2019 to 44 in 2022. I believe this is largely due to many would-be‘ new joiners’ to the great sport of road running being‘ lost’ during the COVID shutdowns, with no road running fixtures( and most participants in 2022 were already“ marathon runners” pre-Covid).
All data is based on finishers except 2024, which is qualified entrants. In 2024, the average age of qualified starters was 44.3, and I expected that average finisher age for would likely decrease from 44.3 as youngsters have a far higher finisher percentage rate than the old timers. However, the final average age for finishers actually increased to 44.5 because a higher proportion of youngsters who do not arrive at the start line. It will be interesting to see the movement on the 2025 qualified to finisher average age.
Almost three quarters( 73.9 %) of the qualified fields is between the age of 35 and 54. Most Comrades runners take early retirement – there are less than 450 runners over 65. There are just 850 starters under the age of 30. The kids of today …
The male and female charts are very comparable with a slight difference with a higher percentage of women between 35 and 44, a trend that is reversed in the older categories. I’ ve tracked novices separately. Interestingly, the bell curve is very similar but everything happens five years earlier, with 75.1 % of novices being between 30 and 49 years of age. The average age of qualified novices is 41.1.
ENTRANTS BY REGION
Gauteng has more than twice the number of entrants than any other province or region and, combined with KwaZulu-Natal, make up 56 % of the qualified entrants. The Western Cape is in a distant third, and no other province gets above 10 %. Look out for Northern Cape runners on 8 June – they are as rare as a ruby in Kimberley.( I’ ve only done this stat on finishers before. Both the International and other African countries numbers are 2 % higher than their 2024 finish numbers. There is generally a higher drop off from those who travel, but this looks to be a good trend for the travel industry.
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