MONDAY, 12.30PM:
WITH entries into the Comrades Marathon taking a dip for the first tome since 1994, officials have decided to allow athletes a full year to qualify for the Natal ultramarathon in an attempt to grow the race.
Runners will now be able to qualify for the 1999 event in any race after June 16 this year after qualification was only allowed after September 1 last year for the 1998 race.
“Race organisers believe that if they are included as Comrades qualifiers it will give their race status,” Comrades Marathon Association spokeswomanCheryl Winn said, “and whatever is good for the sport is good for Comrades.
“In the end we want to get people interested in running so that they may one day run Comrades.”
The official 1998 entry count of 13333 is the lowest since 1994, with 1997 having attracted 13835 entries, the 1996 race 13552 and the 1995 race 13528.