The Comrades is a unique race among the world’s ultra-marathons, partly because of the number of competitors and partly because of what that number represents.

The Great Leveler

Every year, tens of thousands of ordinary South Africans compete in the ultra-marathon called “the Comrades.” Millions of their countryfolk tune in

By Ryan Brown

Before dawn on August 28, nearly 20,000 runners will line up in front of the city hall of Pietermaritzburg, a Victorian-era South African city that looks like British colonialism preserved in amber, to compete in the Comrades: the world’s largest ultra-marathon.

At 5:25 a.m., South Africa’s national anthem, a full-throated, patriotic mash-up of songs in five of the country’s official languages, is sung. Then, Vangelis’s synthy, melodramatic Chariots of Fire theme will thud through the tinny speakers, and the crowd will fall suddenly, reverently silent. And finally, just before the start of the race, the loudspeakers will play an old Southern African migrant laborers’ tune called “Shosholoza.”