By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Photo Credit: Gallo Images.
South Africa’s and Nedbank Running Club athlete George Kusche has stormed to victory in the 99th edition of Comrades Marathon on Sunday.
Competing in the “up run” for the first time in his career, Kusche completed the race in 5:15:56, shattering the race record of 5:24:49 set by Russian athlete Leonid Shvetsov in 2008.
Piet Wiersma was second 5:19:45 (unofficial time), with Mbuti Mollo taking third in 5:21:40 (unofficial time).
Mollo held the lead after halfway until 68km when he first started walking, though the rest was brief until he started running again – the signs were there that he was battling to keep moving.
Around the 60km mark, Mollo had around a seven-minute lead but with 18.4km to go that gap had withered to 1:41 with Kusche closing fast.
Kusche had surged ahead of the chasing pack, and at that point had opened a two-minute gap between himself and chasers.
Finally, at the 4:37 mark Kusche came flying past Mollo with just over 10km to go. From that point, Kusche was unstoppable as he powered to victory.
The race was billed as a heavyweight clash between defending champion and Wiersma and local favourite Tete Dijana. However, it was Kusche – a former sub-four-minute miler and full-time data scientist who finished 12th in his 2025 debut – who timed his effort to perfection.
Kusche’s historic run stands as one of the most dominant tactical displays ever witnessed on the roads of KwaZulu-Natal.
Top 10 finishers in the men’s race:
- George Kusche (RSA) – 05:15:56
- Piet Wiersma (Netherlands) – 05:19:36
- Mbuti Mollo (RSA) – 05:21:31
- Alex Milne (UK) – 05:22:29
- Haruki Okayama (Japan) – 05:24:46
- Charles Lawrence (USA) – 05:27:53
- Lloyd Bosman (RSA) – 05:28:53
- Nikolai Volkov (Russia) – 05:28:59
- Vasilii Korytkin (Russia) – 05:29:29
- Tebogo Pulusa (RSA) – 05:29:40
A total of R4.62-million has been allocated to the Top 10 category, with the winners each receiving R925,000
Furthermore, if the race winners break the “up run” records, they will each pocket an additional R605,000. With the route the shortest distance in recorded history for the “up run”, this incentive may well be claimed on race day by one or both of the winners.
And with the race distance changing every year, the winners will also get an extra R550,000 for the fastest average pace recorded at the annual event.
In addition, the first South African man and woman will each receive R242,000, while the first KwaZulu-Natal athlete to finish, provided they finish in the top 30, will earn R77,000.