STATISTICS
Entry Stats & Facts # 2
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
BREAKDOWN BY PREVIOUS COMRADES FINISHES
Over a quarter of the 2025 Comrades Marathon field are novices( 27 %), and a further 17 % are going for their second finish( most of whom will probably be aiming for a back-to-back medal). There’ ll be plenty of fresh legs on display on the road to Durban, with 72 % of the field having run four or fewer Comrades, and just 11 % are running in a Green Number. These figures are almost identical to 2024 data.
The male and female graphs look very different, with more than half of the female field going for their first or second finish, and just 6.4 % running in a Green Number. In comparison, the male graph has over 42 % between two and nine finishes( no doubt, many of whom have designs on a Green Number). More than one in 10 male runners( 12 %) men will be running in a Green Number.
The gender difference is likely due to it being more difficult for women to train for Comrades. As my wife continually points out, global studies have shown that on average, married men have seven additional hours of leisure time more than married women … hence my ability to write up these stats! On a more serious note, environmental factors are likely at play here. For example, men can run on their own, many women can’ t. Another contributing factor could be that women are just more sensible than men … and one Up Run and one Down Run is the sensible way to run Comrades.
There are seven Triple Green women and eight Quadruple Green men lining up this year. A lot of attention will be on Louis Massyn as he aims to become the first human to run the same ultra 50 times.( Sadly, Barry Holland has a long-term injury, so he won’ t be lining up this year to try again to get his 50th.) We don’ t have anyone running their 40th Comrades this year, but there are three women going for their 30th: Gina Hinchliffe, Helen Mann( both from Stella AC) and Malie van der Walt( Actom AC).
I also took a look at the DNQs( Did Not Qualify) by medal. Almost 40 % of the DNQs are novices, with over half of the female DNQs coming from novice entries. I would assume that this is because of the early entry requirement as well as the high risk of injury in your first year of marathon running.( I speak from experience as I entered Comrades 2002, but due to injury, only ran my
first in 2003.) It would also be interesting to know how many women got out of this year’ s Comrades by falling pregnant. Again, I speak from experience, because my wife missed her second Comrades with this‘ escape clause.’
However, it’ s also sad to see 12.5 % of DNQs come from the Green Numbers, especially those with 30 + finishes, who no doubt would like one more chance to hear Chariots of Fire before dawn. Of those with less than 10 finishes, the lowest dropout rate is those with a single finish( 11.5 %).
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