On Saturday, June 8, Gerda Steyn, of South Africa but who lives in the United Arab Emirates, and Tete Dijana of South Africa won the 98th running of the Comrades Marathon. For Steyn, it was her fourth win and third in a row. Dijana won for the third time and gained redemption after last year’s disappointing 14th-place finish.
Racing in the “down” direction, Steyn gained the lead just before halfway and took the win in 5:51:19. Steyn was second in 2018, and won in 2019, 2023, and 2024. The men’s race saw Dijana run down early frontrunner Onalenna Khonkhobe (South Africa) and then hold off defending champion Piet Wiersma (The Netherlands) to win in 5:25:28. He earlier won the race in 2023 and 2022.
Called “more than a race,” the event is a national celebration and the world’s largest and oldest ultramarathon. Even the start is historic and full of pageantry. The national anthem is sung, followed by a Shosholoza, a traditional Zulu song, the Chariots of Fire theme is played, and finally, a recording of a rooster crow sounds just before the 5:45 a.m. local time start. Over 22,000 runners started the downhill run, the race’s largest down-run field ever.
Comrades is held on a point-to-point road course and alternates direction each year, either going “up” from Durban to Pietermaritzburg, or, as in the case this year, “down” from Pietermaritzburg to Durban. Both directions are spiked by the “Big Five” hills, and the down run pitch accelerates in the second half.
This year’s down run went for 89.98 kilometers (55.91 miles), which was slightly longer than the 87.70 kilometers (54.49 miles) from the last down run in 2023. The extra distance came from a change in the finish line, which moved from the Kingsmead Cricket Stadium to outside People’s Park.
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. Photo: Nedbank Running Club/Tobias Ginsberg
2025 Comrades Marathon Women’s Race
Comrades rookie Elizabeth Mukoloma (Zambia) led early and took the first 5k in 18:47. Race favorite Gerda Steyn (South Africa, lives in the United Arab Emirates) was in the back half of the top 10, and 28 seconds off the lead in this first 5k.
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.
Shortly after halfway while still climbing, Mukoloma was reduced to a walk — she would ultimately slow to a top-20 finish. Morozova now moved up to second. And then the same thing happened to Morozova too. Almost 3:30 into the race, near the 58k Winston Park timing split, Morozova stopped to push against a roadside guardrail in an effort to clear cramps. It must’ve worked, the short stop was enough to get her back on the course. Steyn led Morozova by four minutes here, but just 9k later at Pinetown, Morozova had cut 52 seconds from Steyn’s lead. Muriuki overtook Stelmach for third at Pinetown.
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.
Gerda Steyn wins the 2025 Comrades Marathon women’s race, her third win in a row. Photo: Nedbank Running Club/Tobias Ginsberg
2025 Comrades Marathon Women’s Results
- Gerda Steyn (South Africa) – 5:51:19
- Alexandra Morozova (Russia) – 5:55:56
- Shelmith Muriuki (Kenya) – 6:07:56
- Irvette van Zyl (South Africa) – 6:11:35
- Dominika Stelmach (Poland) – 6:12:02
- Carla Molinaro (U.K.) – 6:13:03
- Jenet Mbhele (South Africa) – 6:14:24
- Caitriona Jennings (Ireland) – 6:16:42
- Courtney Olsen (U.S.) – 6:17:48
- Melissah Gibson (U.K.) – 6:19:59
2025 Comrades Marathon Men’s Race
Onalenna Khonkhobe (South Africa) flew from the start line and split 14:54 for the first 5k. He did the same thing in 2022 as a team pacesetter before dropping out. Since then, he’s won the 2024 Two Oceans Marathon, which put him on the radar as a runner to watch, but he went so fast so early that the field didn’t take his start seriously and let him get away.
Whether Khonkhobe’s fast start was a legitimate strategy or an unusual pacesetting assignment, he incredibly pushed his lead to over seven minutes just 90 minutes into the race. That was over two kilometers in front of everyone, and even farther in front of the presumed race favorites. Khonkhobe ran with a brilliant stride, smiling and waving to the crowd, at times running side to side across the road, but also frequently looking behind for anyone to join his quick early pace.
A few runners were stretched out behind Khonkhobe, but all of the top contenders stayed further behind in a wildly large chase group that included defending champion Piet Wiersma (The Netherlands), 2022 and 2023 winner Tete Dijana (South Africa), former 100k world record-holder Nao Kazami (Japan), and three-time winner Bongmusa Mthembu (South Africa), among others.
And then on a 4k climb, just over two hours into the race, Khonkhobe started to break. He stopped to walk, and reached for his cramping hamstrings at times. Soon after, second-place Mbuti Mollo (South Africa) started to walk before dropping too. Khonkhobe got going again and led through the halfway point, but the chase group, containing all the favorites, while still 20 minutes behind Khonkhobe, looked better and better and came through halfway at a reasonably paced 2:48.
A large group ran together during the early kilometers of the 2025 Comrades Ultramarathon. Photo: Nedbank Running Club/Tobias Ginsberg
Lucky Mohale (South Africa) overtook Mollo for second three hours into the race, but it was the last we’d see either Mohale or Mollo at the front of the match. Khonkhobe improbably kept fighting through his cramps. Multiple times, he’d come to a complete stop in visible agony, only to regain form and continue to lead the race.
Finally, Tete Dijana and Bongmusa Mthembu began to push the chase group forward. With 30k to go, Khonkhobe led by 13 minutes. While the lead was shrinking, 13 minutes was still a lot. Wiersma sat comfortably in the group, but Kazami was three minutes behind the large chase group.
As the race neared the four-hour mark and with 24k to go, Dijana, Wiersma, Edward Mothibi (South Africa), David Gatebe (South Africa), and Joseph Manyedi (South Africa) broke from the large chase group and went after Khonkhobe. The pace continued to quicken. Gatebe and Manyedi were the next to drop. Dijana and Mothibi were sprinting alongside Wiersma through Pinetown, kilometer 69, and a kilometer in front, Khonkhobe was again walking.
With 4:24 on the clock and 16k to go, Dijana and Mothibi flew past daylong leader Khonkhobe and the two training mates — Dijana and Mothibi — briefly shared the lead before Dijana asserted his strength and surged with 15k to go. The move broke Mothibi enough that he fell back to third behind Wiersma, and then eventually further back. It was around here that Khonkhobe dropped from the race.
Dijana would frequently look over his shoulder the rest of the way, and only narrowly avoided a finish-line sprint against Wiersma, as in 2023 when the two were separated by three seconds. Tete Dijana won in 5:25:28 and Piet Wiersma was second in 5:25:33. For comparison, in 2023 Dijana won in 5:13:58 on the shorter course.
Nikolai Volkov (Russia) moved up late to finish third in 5:29:42.
Tete Dijana, men’s winner of the 2025 Comrades Marathon, cools down midrace. Photo: Nedbank Running Club/Tobias Ginsberg
2025 Comrades Marathon Men’s Results
- Tete Dijana (South Africa) – 5:25:28
- Piet Wiersma (The Netherlands) – 5:25:33
- Nikolai Volkov (Russia) – 5:29:42
- Edward Mothibi (South Africa) – 5:31:41
- Joseph Manyedi (South Africa) – 5:32:09
- Alex Milne (U.K.) – 5:34:08
- David Gatebe (South Africa) – 5:34:30
- Bongmusa Mthembu (South Africa) – 5:35:48
- Gordon Lesetedi (South Africa) – 5:36:22
- Vasilii Korytkin (Russia) – 5:38:59
