How to find a running coach for Comrades

Comrades is a long road between Durban and Pietermaritzburg, and an even longer one before race day: months of training, a qualifying marathon, and a lot of early Sunday mornings. Plenty of runners do it with a club and a printed plan. Many others want someone to build the plan around their own weeks, check their long runs and tell them when to back off. This guide shows how to find a running coach or training group for Comrades, and what to ask before you book. More on clubs, coaches and races in livedot's guides to finding your people.

Where do I look?

Two places, with the same coaches:

• In ChatGPT or Claude. Add livedot (livedot.me/mcp) and ask the way you'd ask a friend: "Comrades running coach near Westville", "an ultra coach in Johannesburg", "an online running coach for Comrades", "a Comrades training group in Pretoria". livedot lists the coaches nearest first.
• On livedot.me/coaches. The coaches by area, with the same cards.

Both show only coaches who listed themselves on RunFast and added where they coach. Nobody is listed without asking to be.

Your running club is the other good place to ask. Many clubs have runners who've done Comrades many times, and some clubs run their own Comrades training groups. If a coach you hear about isn't on livedot yet, ask them for their own booking page.

What does each coach show?

How do I choose a coach for Comrades?

Start from where you are, not from the finish.

• A first Comrades. Look for ultra or marathon coaching, and ask how they get a runner from their current long run to race day, including the qualifier.
• A faster Comrades. Look for racing, and ask how they plan the hills, the pacing on the day and the weeks after your qualifier.
• A busy week. Online coaching, with a group long run at the weekend if they offer one near you.
• Company on the long runs. A training group: the coach plans, and you run the long ones with people at your pace.

Then ask the coach directly. Book / contact opens their own page, so the conversation is theirs, not livedot's. Good questions: what a normal week on their plan looks like, how they change it when work or a niggle gets in the way, how they handle the up and down runs, what it costs, and the qualifications they list.

What should I know about the race itself?

The Comrades Marathon Association sets the date, the direction, the qualifying times and the cut-offs every year, and publishes them on comrades.com. Check them there before you agree a plan with a coach, because the direction changes the race: an up run and a down run are trained for differently. The weather matters too. On livedot, Comrades weather in ChatGPT or Claude shows what race day has usually been like along the route, from 10 years of weather records (Copernicus ERA5, CC BY 4.0), never a forecast.

Coach, training group or club?

They overlap, and plenty of Comrades runners use more than one.

• A coach, 1-on-1. A plan built around your weeks, adjusted as you go. It costs the most, and you'll often do the long runs alone or with your club.
• A coach's training group. The coach plans for the group, and you train together, usually at a fixed time each week. Less personal, more company, and usually less expensive.
• Online coaching. A plan and check-ins by app or message, from a coach anywhere in the country. Good if your week moves around, or there's no coach near you.
• A running club. No plan of your own, but people to run the long ones with and, in many clubs, a Comrades group with a shared programme.

Many runners combine a coach's plan with a club's long run. If you do, tell both: a coach plans better when they know which runs are already fixed. For more on the difference, see a personal coach or a training group.

What about safety and health?

A coach plans your training; they aren't your doctor. An ultra is a big step, so if you're new to long distances, coming back after a long break or have a health condition, speak to a doctor before a new training plan. livedot doesn't make any claim about what coaching will do for your fitness or health.

On race day

Once you're on the start line, the people at home can follow you live on livedot.me through RunFast, from Durban to Pietermaritzburg or the other way. See where is my runner at Comrades.

What if there's no coach near me yet?

livedot only lists coaches who added their area, and the list is new. Ask for a wider area ("Comrades coach in KwaZulu-Natal" rather than your suburb), try online coaching, or join a club with a Comrades group. If you know a coach who'd like to be found, point them to how coaches get found in ChatGPT or straight to List your coaching.