Thousands of athletes started off in the Comrades Marathon’s 87km ”up” run from Durban to Pietermaritzburg on Monday morning.
The weather service predicted a fine day, with a 13 deg C minimum expected in Durban in the morning and a maximum of 27 degrees in Pietermaritzburg by afternoon.
Local runners taking part in the race include Bruce Fordyce, who won the marathon nine times, former South African and world marathon champion Mark Plaatjes, 1991 Two Oceans winner Willie Mtolo, defending champion Andrew Kelehe, Walter Nkosi, who had finished among the top ten in the past three years, and rising star Fusi Nhlapo.
1991 champion Nick Bester had to withdraw because of an injury.
Vladimir Kotov of Belarus, the iron-hard 44-year-old veteran who broke the up run record two years ago, is also taking part.
The Comrades Marathon Association will this year — for the first time in South African road racing history — test athletes’ blood for the illegal drug EPO.
First offenders will receive a two-year suspension and second-offenders will be punished with a life ban. Erythropoetin (EPO) enhances the oxygen-carrying red blood cells in the body which give endurance athletes a huge advantage.
It will also be the first time that urine samples will be taken from runners further back in the field where the use of pain killers, anti-inflammatory and performance enhancing drugs are said to be rife. – Sapa