Thousands of runners waited in the dark before the Comrades marathonmarathonL1任何漫长而艰巨的任务any long and arduous undertaking in South Africa. The race started at 5am with a gunshot. The Comrades is the world's oldest and largest ultramarathonultramarathon/ˌʌltrəˈmærəθɑːn/L2超级马拉松（距离超过标准马拉松42.195公里的长跑比赛）a very long running race that is longer than a regular marathon (26.2 miles). The first race was in 1921, and it covers about 55 miles. Since then, the race has changed direction every year. It only stopped for World War II and the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the first race, only 34 white men took part. Today, more than 20,000 people from all backgroundsbackgrounds/ˈbækɡraʊndz/L2背景；出身（指人的社会阶层、种族、文化等）the different social, racial, or cultural situations that people come from compete. For example, William Seleka started running after a difficult time in his life. He said, "I thought for me to stay alive, I had to keep myself busy." He trained hard every day while working as a repairman. He finished the race in 10 hours and 30 minutes.
The race was first opened to women in 1975. Also, it was desegregateddesegregated/diːˈseɡrɪɡeɪtɪd/L2废除种族隔离的；允许不同种族共同参与的no longer separated by race; allowing people of all races to mix together at that time. Television coveragecoverage/ˈkʌvərɪdʒ/L2报道；覆盖范围（尤指媒体对事件的报道）the reporting of an event by television, newspapers, or other media began in 1976, and by 1986 the whole race was broadcast. This helped make the Comrades popular across South Africa. Many runners finish in the final hour, and about 91% completed the race this year. The race is a big part of South African life today.
