Course comparison
Comrades Marathon vs Marathon des Sables Legendary
Two closely-matched courses — Marathon des Sables Legendary edges it for difficulty (9.0 vs 8.9 / 10).
Pietermaritzburg, ZA
8.9/ 10 · Brutal
Comrades Marathon: driven by 887 m of climbing, 1532 m of quad-pounding descent.
Merzouga, MA
9.0/ 10 · Brutal
Marathon des Sables Legendary: driven by typical race-day heat (~28 °C), 2000 m of climbing, 2000 m of quad-pounding descent.
| Metric | Comrades Marathon | Marathon des Sables Legendary |
|---|---|---|
| Difficulty | 8.9 · Brutal | 9.0 · Brutal |
| Distance | 90.92 km | 250.00 km |
| Elevation gain | 887 m | 2000 m |
| Elevation loss | 1532 m | 2000 m |
| Highest point | 820 m | 900 m |
| Typical temp | 7–21 °C | 18–38 °C |
| Usual month | June | April |
| Cutoff | 12:00:00 | 144:00:00 |
Comrades Marathon — elevation
807 m407 m7 m
climbflatdescent
807 m
7 m
0 km10 km20 km30 km40 km50 km60 km70 km80 km90 kmMarathon des Sables Legendary — elevation
559.9 m476 m391.1 m
climbflatdescent
559.9 m
391.1 m
0 km10 km20 km30 km40 km50 km60 km70 km80 km90 km100 km110 km120 km130 km140 km150 km160 km170 km180 km190 km200 km210 km220 km230 km240 km250 km