The Durban International Marathon has been accorded the revered World Athletics Label Road Race status. The local marathon forms part of a limited number of road races which were included in the 2023 World Athletics Label Road Race Calendar, which was released recently.

This comes on the back of an additional 20 more races from the 2022 schedule and will allow the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) to extend the registered drug-testing pool for road-racing, as a result of extra funding offered through the Label race programme.

The Durban International Marathon is one of 238 events that had registered for the Label programme which includes 14 Platinum Label races (14 marathons), 38 Gold Label races (25 marathons and 13 other distance races), 66 Elite Label races (41 marathons, 25 other distance races) and 120 Label races (59 marathons, 61 other distance races) spread across 53 countries and all six geographic areas.

KwaZulu-Natal Athletics President, Steve Mkasi said, “We are proud of the Durban International Marathon’s inclusion as a World Athletics Label Road Race. The road running fraternity and the eventing industry in general, has not been spared from the ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic which makes this accolade that much more welcoming and deserving.”

“The City of Durban has so much to offer to runners, both nationally and internationally. The Durban International Marathon has been growing in popularity and offers both recreational and elite runners an amazing opportunity to be part of a truly well organised event. Additionally, it is worth noting that the Durban International Marathon is an Abbott World Marathon Major WANDA age category qualifier, which offers more reasons for athletes to be part of this awesome event.”

The organisers of the Durban International Marathon join hands with World Athletics and strongly support its education programmes within the road-running fraternity in a bid to reduce doping and to promote clean competition.