RACE INFO
3 DROP AND GO
If you’ re planning to be dropped at the start in Pietermaritzburg by family or friends, then take note of the drop and go arrangements. The start precinct in Chief Albert Luthuli Street and immediate surrounds will be closed to traffic. There will be two drop and go zones, parallel to the start and on either side of the start area, in Boshoff Street to the north and in Princess, Bank & Timber Streets to the south. The drop zones are just a short walk to the start, with various tog bag drop points in Pietermaritz Street and Church Street, and banks of portaloos throughout the race precinct.
4 ENTERING THE START PRECINCT
Runner in Start Group 1 are urged to use the Church Street entrance gates into the start precinct, then make their way to their allocated seeding batches, while runners in Group 2 are urged to use the entrances in Pietermaritz Street, as well as from the back of the start from Hoosen Haffejee Street( into Chief Labert Luthuli Street).
All runners should take note that is your responsibility to be in your starting batch by 5:30am, irrespective of your start group and time. The access points to the start batches will close 15 minutes before the start, and any participant who arrives at the start after that will need to line up behind the last start batch of their start group. No climbing over fences or barricades will be tolerated, for safety reasons, and any runner spotted doing this will be penalised by the referees.
Please note: There will be a lot of cars and buses heading towards the start precinct, so check out our handy start map and make your start plans. The best advice is get there early, find your start group and get into your seeding batch as quickly as you can.
5 TOILETS AND URINALS
A total of 260 portable toilets and 100 urinals have been placed at the start for use by participants, so please use them. Any participant seen urinating or defecating in a start batch may have their future entry to the Comrades Marathon rejected. Female-only toilets will be available at the start and will be monitored by security.
6 TOG BAG SERVICE
Biddulphs Removals will provide a free tog bag service from the Start to the Finish. Participants may deliver their tog bags to the Biddulphs Removals vehicles at the Start immediately prior to the commencement of the event. The tog bag drop-off points are indicated on the start layout map on the next page. Please arrive early to avoid congestion at the tog bag collection facility.
Participants are encouraged to hand in their tog bags to Biddulphs Removals when registering for the race in Durban and Pietermaritzburg. These tog bags may then be collected at the finish venue.
Tog bags can be collected at the Finish upon presentation of a participant’ s tog bag voucher, which will be issued to each participant at the time of delivery the tog bag before the start. No tog bags will be returned without a voucher.
Please note: While all reasonable efforts will be made to protect your personal property, neither the CMA, Biddulphs Removals nor any of their respective staff, Board Members, representatives, sponsors, partners or volunteers will accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by a participant subsequent to their delivery of a tog bag to the Tog Bag Service. Please do not leave any valuables in your bags. Should you choose to leave a cellular phone in your tog bag, please ensure it is switched off.
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7 SEEDING BATCHES
Each participant has been assigned to a specific start group and seeding batch, ordered alphabetically, depending on the race qualifying time submitted at the time of entry. Each participant’ s start batch is indicated by the alphabetical letter preceding the numerical digits printed on their race number.
The seeding batches in Start Group 1 will begin with Batch A on the start line itself, facing south-east towards Durban, followed by B to J. There will be a gap between the two start groups, and then Batches K to S of Group 2 will line up, and they will be moved forward once the Group 1 runners have cleared the start line.
Participants are responsible for arriving at the entry points to their assigned start batches before the batch closing times at 5:30am, irrespective of their Start Group. Any participant who improperly enters a start batch other than the one assigned to them, which will be monitored by the electronic timing system, may be disqualified and their future entry to the Comrades Marathon rejected.
Please note: The access points to the start batches will close 15 minutes before the start. Any participant who arrives at the start after the batch access points have closed, will need to line up behind the last start batch of their Start Group, and may not climb over the fence and / or barricades to access their designated seeding batch. The referees at the start will penalise any participant who contravenes any of the above rules.
8 LATE STARTERS
All participants who arrive late to the start will be required to start at the back of the last batch in Group 2. As soon as the back markers / last participants have crossed over the start line timing mats, a grace period of 15 minutes after the Group 2 start will be given before the timing mats are removed.
Please Note: Once the timing mats are removed at 06h15, no late starters will be permitted to proceed. Should a participant fail to heed this warning and proceed to join the main race on route, that participant may be disqualified at the finish.
Turn to the next page for a detailed map of the start area, including a handy guide to drop and go areas, toilets, Biddulphs tog bag drop points, and the access points for your start group.
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