Zimbabwe: More Than a Race – Comrades Marathon Delivers Drama, Emotion, and Champions

THE power of the Comrades Marathon was on full display late on Sunday afternoon as runners scrambled across the finish line.

While all the glory went to the winners who had finished earlier, those who crossed the line later were also proud of their achievements.

One of the runners who crossed the line in a time of 09:53 was kwaito star Kabelo Mabalane of TKZee fame, who was running the Comrades for the 13th time.

Speaking on the SuperSport broadcast at the finish line, Mabalane remarked on how tough the 2025 race was for him.

“It was the hardest one. I haven’t been here since 2019, so today proved to be very difficult. I stopped at 58 km. I quit as I’d had enough, but my wife was amazing, and friends of mine [who were on the route] were very encouraging,” Mabalane said.

He found the strength to carry on, and along the way, crossed paths with Akhona Mkangala, who was also struggling.

“Akhona helped me to the finish line. We met on the route with 17 km to go. She was crying on the side of the road and I was like, ‘Let’s finish together,’ and ja, we made it. I didn’t think I’d be here.”

Despite a difficult run, Mkangala insisted the 2025 Comrades was not her last.

“Tough day in the office. It started off very well, but I started to struggle at Bill Rowan, but clearly Comrades has its own things. It’s an unpredictable race, but we’ll come back again next year,” she added.

Showing his appreciation for the race organisers, Mabalane said he was impressed by Sunday’s race, which finished at People’s Park instead of the Kingsmead cricket ground.

“To the Comrades Marathon Association: You guys outdid yourselves. It’s a spectacular race.”

Turning to the camera, he said: “To you at home, you have to do Comrades at least once in your lifetime. It’s going to change your life.”

Earlier in the day, Tete Dijana crossed the line in a time of five hours, 25 minutes 27 for his third Comrades Marathon title.

Dijana out-duelled defending champion Piet Wiersma, to add to the titles he won in 2022 and 2023. Wiersma crossed the line (5:25:33) less than 10 seconds after Dijana. Nikolai Volkov was third in 5:29:42.

In the women’s race, Gerda Steym claimed a fourth title when she crossed the line in five hours, 51 and 19 seconds. The result confirmed her status as the dominant force in ultra marathon running in South Africa with her third consecutive title, her maiden win came in 2019.

This year’s race had a record prize purse, too, totaling R7,605,000. That’s approximately $427,000 and nearly double last year’s R4,000,000 ($225,000). First-place finishers earned R874,000 ($49,150), prize money went 10 deep, and there was the potential for course record bonuses and hot spot primes on top of that too. It’s certainly the richest prize in ultrarunning, but for comparison, the 2024 New York City Marathon had a total purse of almost $900,000.

The Comrades Marathon is the oldest and largest ultramarathon in the world.

Steyn was not only the public favorite but also the betting favorite. This year’s race had legal sports betting, and a day before the start, Steyn had 6-10 odds. Steyn set the down-run record in 2023 in 5:44:54 and, earlier in 2025, won the Two Oceans Marathon for the sixth time in a row.

Steyn moved up over the next 5k, but the gap to race leader Mukoloma grew. The pacesetter Mukoloma was 47 seconds up 10k into the race. Dominika Stelmach (Poland) and 2022 winner Alexandra Morozova (Russia) trailed Steyn by 12 seconds in third and fourth. Standout marathoner Irvette van Zyl (South Africa) was sixth in her debut run, and 2024 third-place runner Courtney Olsen (U.S.) was 11th at this point.

Mukoloma ran just behind the men’s chase group through the Umlaas Road course high point at 20k. Two minutes behind her, Morozova pulled even with Steyn.

On a long climb to the halfway point, 2:42 into the race, Steyn made the long-anticipated pass and moved into the lead. Steyn led at halfway, smiling and waving to the crowd, and Mukoloma quietly tucked in behind. The first six women — Steyn, Mukoloma, Morozova, Stelmach, Shelmith Muriuki (Kenya), and van Zyl — all came through halfway in under three hours, a record. Olsen, the top American, was still 11th.

Morozova kept the pressure on. At Westville, kilometer 78, Steyn’s lead over Morozova was down to 2:44. The Russian chaser had cut another 24 seconds over 9k in distance, but she wouldn’t get any closer over the final 11k.

Gerda Steyn won for the fourth time in 5:51:19, at a significantly faster pace than when she’d won in 2023 on a shorter course, and 2022 winner Alexandra Morozova was second in 5:55:56.

Shelmith Muriuki made history to become the first ever Black woman to finish on the race’s podium.

2025 Comrades Marathon Women’s Results

Gerda Steyn (South Africa) – 5:51:19