Comrades Marathon: Important weather forecast for Sunday

This year’s Comrades Marathon is the second consecutive ‘down run’ from the Pietermaritzburg City Hall to Kingsmead Stadium in Durban.

As thousands of runners get set to take part in the Ultimate Human Race, here is some all-important information on the weather forecast to take note.

Notably, according to Windguru, conditions in the early hours of the morning will be cold but clear during the early hours of Sunday morning in Pietermaritzburg. Between 5am and 7am, temperatures will hover around 6°C, while rising to around 11°C by 9am.

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As it heads towards midday, temperatures will rise to a high of 21°C in Pietermaritzburg, but conditions will remain clear and virtually windless throughout the day.

The forecast in Durban is similarly favourable – albeit rather warm. There will be a high of around 21°C from noon onwards, with those temperatures persisting throughout the afternoon and into the evening.

There will be a moderate breeze, though, which could at least provide some respite from the heat and humidity.

All in all, though, runners can look forward to a beautiful day out.

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Check out the Comrades road closures below:

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From a safety perspective, runners will be well looked after

The Comrades Finish Medical Facility has been a feature of the Comrades Marathon since 1977 and today also includes a Netcare pre-hospital intensive care unit.

“This year the medical team will comprise 10 emergency medicine specialists, 25 emergency medicine registrars from the University of the Witwatersrand and UKZN Medical faculties, doctors from the private sector, about 75 Netcare and other nurses, and roughly 25 general assistants. We will also have a mini laboratory to enable us to perform essential blood tests, provided by Ampath laboratories, as well as Netcare 911 emergency medical practitioners, physiotherapists and volunteers,” race doctor Jeremy Boulter says.

Together Netcare 911, Netcare, and the Comrades medical team are fully prepared to assist participants in every eventuality, whether it is a life threatening emergency or simply a strained muscle.

By numbers, Netcare is deploying:

• 63 nurses from Netcare
• 32 ambulance staff
• 8 advanced life support rapid response vehicle paramedics
• 11 joint operations centre staff
• 8 stadium paramedics
• 8 support staff
• 4 motorcycles with EMS practitioners
• 3 members of the helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS)
• 2 advanced life support practitioners at the finish line
• 2 IT staff

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