The route
Comrades Marathon
Next edition13 June 2027
91.6 km and 1,344 m of climbing from Pietermaritzburg to Durban, with 1,960 m of descent overall.
Drawn with a pen, line by line
- Distance
- 91.6 km
- Elevation gain
- 1,344 m
- Highest point
- 821 m
- Summits, passes and villages
- 16
01
The route in numbers
Indicative figures computed by Plotrek on its illustrative route, with altitudes from a terrain model. They may differ from the organiser's.
02
Reading the route
The start goes at 5:30 from Pietermaritzburg City Hall, 629 m above sea level. The course follows paved road, point to point, all the way to Durban, over rolling terrain where climbs follow one another between the two cities. You pass Lynnfield Park around km 14, on the way to the highest point.
The highest point sits at km 19, at 821 m. The longest climb of the course leads to it: 184 m of gain between km 12.2 and km 19. Cato Ridge follows at km 30, at 763 m, then Drummond at km 44.3, at 661 m, and Botha's Hill at km 51.8, at 743 m. The profile alternates descents and climbs.
You reach Pinetown at km 71.7, at 355 m. From there, the course drops from 355 m to 13 m on its way to Durban, where the finish sits at Kings Park Rugby Precinct, at km 91.6. In total you climb 1,344 m and descend 1,960 m, within a cut-off of 12 hours from the start.
Paths and places: © OpenStreetMap contributors. Altitudes measured on the route.
03 · Your poster
The route, drawn with a pen
The relief of the course, from Pietermaritzburg to Durban, takes shape as contour lines: our pen plotter draws it with a pen, line by line. Your finisher name and time go in the cartouche, in A4, A3 or A2.
Shipped from our workshop in Le Bouscat
04
Official information
- Illustrative route redrawn by Plotrek from public data: the course announced by the organiser and OpenStreetMap paths. It is not the official course of the event.
- Altitudes: terrain model AWS Terrain Tiles
- Places: © OpenStreetMap contributors
- Figures and text: Plotrek
- Plotrek is not a partner of, or affiliated with, the race organiser.