The Comrades Marathon Association says nine of the 74 Comrades Marathon runners who were admitted to medical facilities on Sunday are still in hospital.
Most of the runners apparently needed to be treated for dehydration.
Race Director Rowyn James says two of the runners who are in intensive care have been taken off ventilators.
James says, “There are only nine still in hospital, of those nine, two are in ICU, both were on ventilators but they are now off the ventilators. That’s an indication that they are on the road to recovery but they are still in ICU, purely from an observation point of view.”
Deaths
The association says in a statement that Mthembu had a heart attack while running in Pinetown. He was taken to the Westville Hospital, where he later died.
The race doctor, Jeremy Boulter, says details of the second incident are unknown.
The association says Ntshiza got into difficulty close to the halfway mark at Drummond and died before he could be transported to hospital.
Comrades Marathon Association Chairperson Mqondisi Ngcobo on the passing away of two runners :
Prize giving
On Monday, the top runners and top teams attended a champions prize-giving ceremony in Durban.
Russian athlete Alexandra Morozova was handed her champion gold trophy and prize money for being the first woman in. Morozova was at the eleventh hour allowed to participate in the 2022 Comrades Marathon after succeeding with an urgent court interdict.
This was after the Comrade Marathon Association implemented a last-minute directive from the World Athletics not to allow Russian athletes to compete, due to the country’s doping ban and its invasion of Ukraine.
VIDEO: Tete Morena and Alexandra Morozova win the Comrades Marathon:
