{"id":263598,"date":"2025-06-08T13:35:41","date_gmt":"2025-06-08T11:35:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/kougaexpress\/tete-and-gerda-first-to-cross-the-comrades-finish-line-for-2025\/"},"modified":"2025-06-08T14:03:11","modified_gmt":"2025-06-08T12:03:11","slug":"tete-and-gerda-first-to-cross-the-comrades-finish-line-for-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/kougaexpress\/tete-and-gerda-first-to-cross-the-comrades-finish-line-for-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Tete and Gerda first to cross the Comrades finish line for 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Tete Dijana was the first man to cross the finish line of the 98th Comrades Marathon 2025 this morning, completing the course in a time of 05:25:28, ahead of Piet Wiersma, who won the race last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dijana has now claimed his third Comrades Marathon title, having previously won in 2022 and 2023, before finishing 14th last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the women&#8217;s race, the sensational Gerda Steyn triumphed once again, securing her fourth victory with a time of 05:51:19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Steyn remains the current record holder for both the &#8220;up&#8221; and &#8220;down&#8221; runs of the Comrades Marathon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This year saw a record number of participants, with 22 670 qualified entrants (up from 20 574 in 2024) setting off from Pietermaritzburg to Durban. The Comrades Marathon is the oldest and one of the most challenging and respected ultramarathons in the world, covering a distance of almost 90 kilometres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today&#8217;s event marked the 49th &#8220;down run&#8221; in the race&#8217;s illustrious history, starting at Pietermaritzburg City Hall and finishing at Durban&#8217;s People&#8217;s Park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thousands of runners are still making their way to Durban, endeavouring to beat the cut-off time of 18:00 today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Comrades Marathon 2025 prize money this year is equal for both male and female elite athletes, emphasising gender parity in one of the world&#8217;s most prestigious ultramarathons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The organisers have increased the total prize purse to over R7.6 million, with the following breakdown:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>First place (men and women each): R874,000<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Second place: R438,000<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Third place: R315,000<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Additionally, winners could receive a potential bonus of R550 000 for breaking the previous best time for the &#8220;down run.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tete Dijana was the first man to cross the finish line of the 98th Comrades Marathon 2025 this morning, completing the course in a time of 05:25:28, ahead of Piet 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