The popular Durban City Marathon has followed the trend for 2020 and will join the growing list of virtual races, with athletes having a two-day window to complete the 42,2km, 21,1km, 10km or 5km options.
The popular race on the Durban beachfront attracted over 5000 entries in April 2019, but at the corresponding time this year the event was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and was finally forced to be cancelled in early July.
For all 2020 entrants, entry fees will be deferred to the 2021 Durban City Marathon, but the event organisers, the Durban City Multi Sports Club, has ensured that those runners still hoping to have a run in celebration of KwaZulu-Natal’s beautiful seaside city can do so on August 1st or 2nd.
The Durban City Marathon Virtual Race will offer runners the chance to “compete” over 42,2km, 21.1km, 10km or 5km distances by measuring their own runs and submitting the timing details to the FinishTime results page. Runners can complete the distances wherever it suits them, so you can take part in Durban, or Cape Town or Johannesburg, or even New York or Auckland.
Finishers must upload their results, either by way of Strava, Garmin Link or manually, to the FinishTime results page before 6pm on August 2. All finishers of all distances will earn a Durban City Marathon Virtual Race medal.
Medals can either be collected from a runner’s club, or finishers have the option to have medals posted to them. Postal details must be completed when runners enter on the Webtickets.co.za website.
Entry fees for the 42,2km, 21,1km or 10km are R120 and the 5km fee is R50 and entries close on July 31.
The start and finish times are 6am to 6pm each day and athletes must complete the entire race distance over one day, either on August 1 or 2.
There will be a prize for the happiest “race face” selfie will win R500. All entries for this social media competition must be submitted via the Durban City Marathon Facebook page.
When entering, athletes also have the option of purchasing event merchandise that includes short or long sleeve T-Shirts, branded face masks with certified filters, buffs and socks. Details and prices are on the Webtickets.co.za race entry page.