After a historic hybrid 10-hour session, seven new board members were elected at the much anticipated 2024 Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) Annual General Meeting (AGM) late on Saturday afternoon in Pietermaritzburg.
The previous CMA Board – tasked with the responsibility of organising the oldest ultramarathon in the world – endured a torrid tenure littered with controversies.
It was the first time in the almost 100 year history of the world-renowned ultra, that members were allowed to cast their votes online together with traditional members who attended the AGM in person.
The marathon session took much longer as it normally takes for some athletes to finish the gruelling 89 km ultra run annually from Pietermaritzburg to Durban.
The AGM was scheduled to start at 09:00 for 10:00 on Saturday morning.
Proceedings eventually got underway at 10:15 and ended just before 18:00.
Although there were a few expected online hiccups, voters eventually decided that Athletics South Africa (ASA) and Kwazulu-Natal Athletics (KZNA) represented on the new board will no longer have voting rights.
It was also decided that all board members will no longer be allowed dual roles by also serving on Race Organising Committees because of possible conflict of interests.
Board members roles will therefore strictly be confined to provide direction with regards to driving the mission, vision, and oversight of the CMA.
Around 260 members joined online throughout the day, but at the time of voting for new board member positions, the number of members who eventually voted online, were in the region of 150.
Voters had to choose from 14 shortlisted candidates.
Adding to the existing two members, namely Isaac Ngwenya and Nontuthuko Mashimane, the seven newly elected members with number of votes in brackets are: Mark Leathers (278), Willie Mtolo (254), Mqondisi Ngcobo (240), Brenda Marolen (240), Carel Nolte (228), Rory Steyn (222), and Alan David Gray (207).
Alain Dalais, the Acting Race Operations Manager, also announced that the 2025 Comrades Marathon has officially reached its capacity of 23000 runners for the Down Run from Pietermaritzburg to Durban on 8 June.
