Comrades Marathon: 9 tons of bananas, 1.9 million water sachets

Staying hydrated is an integral part of any race, especially the Comrades Marathon, and the organisers have the mammoth task of ensuring that all the refreshment stands are adequately stocked.

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After a two-year coronavirus-forced hiatus, the 95th Comrades Marathon will take place on Sunday, 28 August 2022.

It will be a ‘down’ run from Pietermaritzburg City Hall to Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium.

The starter’s gun will sound at 05:30 and runners will have 12 hours to complete the race with cut-off at 17:30.

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The official race distance of this year’s event is 89.885km which means that runners will run 299m shorter than they did in the 2018 ‘down’ run, mainly as a result of the current roadworks along the route.

The race was last contested in 2019 with Edward Mothibi winning the men’s ‘up’ race in 5:31:33 while Gerda Steyn was the women’s winner in a record 5:58:53.

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Both the men’s and women’s winners will walk away with R260 000 – and a gold medal.

Second and third will earn R130 000 and R90 000, respectively, while the 10th and final gold medal winner with bank R12 000.

Comrades Marathon refreshment stations every 2km

There will be 43 refreshment stations along the route at an average interval of one ever 2km and will stock the following:

Coke: 30 350 litres
Fanta/Crème Soda: 10 650 litres
Coke paper cups (175ml): 450 000
Thirsti Water sachets: 1.9 million
Isofit sports drink sachets: 475 000
Asemzansi Amahewu: 45 000
Bavaria 0.0 percent beer: 10 000 x 150ml cans
Cooked potatoes: 1 ton
Bananas: 9 tons
Oranges: 4.5 tons