2026 Comrades Marathon Raises Over R7.1-million for Event Charities

The Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) celebrated another hugely successful fundraising year on Thursday as it held its annual charities handover at the Southern Sun Maharani Hotel in Durban. A total of R7,166,249 was raised by the 2026 Comrades Marathon’s Amabeadibeadi Charity Drive, and the handover ceremony saw this money divided amongst the event’s six official Amabeadibeadi Charities.

The Amabeadibeadi Charity Drive was established in 1996 when the CMA decided to invest in and give back to the communities that have graciously supported the event since its inception in 1921. Thanks to the spirit of giving and generosity of Comrades Marathon runners, supporters, sponsors and partners, this fundraising initiative has now raised over R91-million in three decades.

The six official Amabeadibeadi Charities for the 2026 race were Childhood Cancer Foundation (CHOC), SANParks Honorary Rangers, Community Chest Durban & Pietermaritzburg, Hillcrest Aids Centre Trust (HACT), Rise Against Hunger (RAH) and Childline KwaZulu-Natal.

“The Comrades Marathon has always represented far more than the pursuit of a medal. It is a celebration of human endurance, courage, community and, perhaps most importantly, the spirit of giving,” says Nontuthuko Mashimane, Vice Chairperson of the CMA Board and Head of the CMA CSI & Charities Portfolio.

“Through the AmaBeadiBeadi Charity Drive, notably the Race4Charity initiative, the Comrades Marathon provides runners with an opportunity to transform their personal journey into a meaningful contribution to the lives of others. We would like to extend our thanks to all who contributed so generously to the 2026 fundraising campaign, and we are proud to hand over these funds to our deserving charities.”

Successful 2026 Campaign

Various revenue streams contributed to the R7,166,249 amount raised in 2026, including charitable donations added voluntarily by runners to their entry fees, the Race4Charity platform (where runners pledge to run the race to raise funds for their chosen official charity), sales of Amabeadibeadi merchandise at the Comrades Marathon Expo, sales of tickets in the Toyota Win-a-Car Competition (with all proceeds going to the official charities), as well as donations from and funds raised by the greater Comrades Marathon community.

The main contributing revenue streams were:  

Race4Charity: R4,572,701  

Amabeadibeadi donations: R908,302   

Donations with entries: R384,566   

Toyota Win-a-Car Competition: R332,300

Runners who chose to Race4Charity raised just over R4.5-million, with Mahesh Ratanjee once again being the top fundraiser, collecting R304,000 for his chosen charity, the Community Chest of Durban & Pietermaritzburg. Ratanjee has now finished as leading Race4Charity fundraiser three years in a row. Sixth on the 2026 list was CMA Chairperson Mark Leathers, proving that the CMA leadership is firmly behind the Amabeadibeadi fundraising drive.

The top six individual Race4Charity fundraisers were:   

Mahesh Ratanjee     R304,002  

Roger Scholtz           R102,000  

Nato Amaral              R79,683  

Laura Barras             R63,570  

Catherine Hopkins    R52,534 

Mark Leathers           R47,000

The Amabeadiebeadi donations totalled R908,302, and this included corporate donations from race sponsors Cell C (R584,479) and World Sports Betting (R15,470), as well as from Mc Naught & Company INC (R115,951) and Angola Ambassadors (R12,283). The Amabeadibeadi fund was further boosted by sales of Route Marker Boards as mementoes for International runners (R22,400), sales of Pacesetting Bands (R10,520), as well as R5000 in proceeds from sales of Louis Massyn’s book. (In 2025, Massyn became the first runner to earn a 50th medal at the Comrades Marathon.)

The generous donation of a Toyota Corolla Cross 1.8 XR prize by Toyota South Africa saw a record 18,533 tickets sold this year in the Toyota Comrades Marathon Win-a-Car Competition. This produced record ticket sales of R926,650, improving on the previous record set in 2025, when 18,340 tickets were sold and R917,000 raised. Of the R926,650 total, R332,300 came from online sales by the CMA, while the remaining R594,350 came from direct sales by the six charities. The lucky winner of the car was Celumusa Menzi Simelane of Durban, who ran his first Comrades Marathon this year.

Official Amabeadibeadi merchandise sales also brought in considerable revenue for the charity campaign, including popular items like bucket hats (R149,100), arm sleeves (R43,420), beads (R31,840), and beanies (R29,760).

BENEFITTING CHARITIESThe funds raised by the Amabeadibeadi Charity Drive are distributed to the six official Amabeadibeadi charities, with most of the allocation determined by the charity chosen by the contributing runner or supporter. In this way, the legacy of the Comrades Marathon extends into the vital work done by these organisations in support of vulnerable communities and survivors of abuse, humanitarian relief, and environmental conservation.

At the handover, the following cheques were presented to the six charities:   

Childhood Cancer Foundation (CHOC)      R2,275,815 

SANParks Honorary Rangers                     R1,332,590 

Community Chest (PMB & Durban)           R1,201,689 

Hillcrest Aids Centre Trust (HACT)           R916,365 

Rise Against Hunger                                   R800,672 

Childline KZN                                             R639,118

RECORD START TO 2027 CAMPAIGNWith the 2027 Comrades Marathon celebrating the 100th edition of the race, the CMA has introduced a new initiative to support its Amabeadibeadi Charity Drive. This sees 1000 Amabeadibeadi Charity Entries made available, offering participants the opportunity to purchase a guaranteed entry at the applicable base entry fee, together with a compulsory charitable contribution of R10,000 per entry to the official CMA Amabeadibeadi Charity Drive. This will contribute R10-million to the event’s charity drive.

These entries went on sale on Tuesday 25 August, when the first entry window for the 2027 race opened. By 10am on Thursday 27 August, just over 920 of these entries had been sold in 48 hours, meaning that over R9.2-million has already been raised for the event’s charity drive. In addition, many Green and Yellow Number runners who entered in the first entry window have added charitable donations to their entry fees for the CMA’s Race4Charity initiative, and this brings the total charity donations thus far for the 2027 race to over R9.2-million, shattering the previous record of R8,012,438 raised by the 2025 Comrades Marathon.

“We believe that one runner can make a difference, but one thousand runners can create a movement. And that movement can leave a legacy long after the final runner crosses the finish line,” says Mashimane. “We are delighted by the overwhelmingly positive response to the new Amabeadibeadi Charity Entries, and know that the generosity of our runners will extend the impact of the 2027 Comrades Marathon far beyond race day, by supporting the work of our eight official Amabeadibeadi Charities across South Africa.”

The CMA is now calling on runners who will enter in the second and third entry windows to also pledge their support to the Amabeadibeadi Charity Drive, and help extend that new fundraising target still further. “As we stand on the threshold of the 100th running of the Comrades Marathon, we have an opportunity to reflect on where this incredible race has come from — but also to ask ourselves a very important question: What will we leave behind for the next 100 years?” says Mashimane.

“For the Comrades Marathon Association, the answer is simple: We must leave behind a legacy of giving, and The Ultimate Human Race should do the ultimate thing in trying to create as much positive social impact as possible. Because charity has always been woven into the DNA of the Comrades Marathon.”