The ultimate human race Thousands of runners gather at the start of the Comrades Marathon. Photo: Comrades Marathon/Facebook

Image: Comrades Marathon/Facebook

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.

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“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 1o 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.