One person who didn’t miss out on entering the 2026 Comrades marathon, which will be the 99th edition of the famous race, is Louis Massyn, who’ll be hoping to complete his 51st Comrades next June.
While it appears thousands of runners missed out on snapping up one of the 22,000 available tickets for the race, Massyn says he will be at the start line on 14 June 2026, should he be healthy enough.
“I’ve qualified for both the Two Oceans and Comrades next year and entered both,” said Massyn this week. He celebrated his 75th birthday on 24 October.
“I ran the recent Coastal Marathon between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay in Namibia and felt good. I’m looking forward to my 51st Comrades.”
First run in 1973 cost R4 to enter
Massyn became the first man to make it to 50 Comrades finishes earlier this year, when he crossed the line in the dark in Durban in June while being helped by friends and family.
“It was mainly lower back problems that hurt me the most, but that’s under control now. I’ve been up and about, running again for a while already.”
He said he couldn’t quite believe that entries for next year’s race, an Up Run from Durban to Pietermaritzburg and approximately 87km in distance, had sold out inside 10 hours on Monday.
“It’s unbelievable hey,” he said.
Massyn ran his first Comrades in 1973 and it cost him a whole R4 to enter the race. A year later, in 1975 – the Comrades’ 50th running – it cost R5 to enter.
Since Covid the entry fee has been R1,200 for South Africans to enter, double what it was in the years before Covid.
“It’s still a lot cheaper to run Comrades than it is to participate in many cycling events,” said Massyn. He added everything in life had got more expensive, with special reference to running shoes.
“Just before my first Comrades my mom took me to a sports shop in Welkom and I told the salesman I wanted the most expensive shoes. He asked me why, and I told him I was going to be running the Comrades. He said I needed two pairs of shoes to make it over that distance.
“Anyway, my mom bought me the best shoes which cost R23. I got to Pietermaritzburg and the day before the race I thought let me buy that second pair … I found a shop and bought a pair for R4,99 … I started the race in the cheap pair the next day and ran the whole way in them. Can you believe it?
“I had huge blisters on my feet and was sore for days.”
Massyn’s shoes are among several items on display in the Comrades Museum in Pietermaritzburg.
Massyn, who lives along the Garden Route after spending most of his life in Welkom, is currently in Cape Town undergoing medial trials in a research project.
“They’re doing all sorts of tests on me, which is all very interesting … I suppose when you run 50 Comrades and you’re my age there might be a few things to learn.”
Since his first Comrades in 1973, Massyn has missed only one race, in 2022. The Comrades also didn’t take place in 2020 and 2021 because of Covid.
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