iTOO pays out R750 000 for broken Comrades Marathon records

12-06-23 / Shelly Nxumalo

iTOO pays out R750 000 for broken Comrades Marathon records

Johannesburg - Specialist insurer iTOO will be writing a cheque of R750 000 to the organisers of the Comrades Marathon this year, having underwritten the prize money awarded to the athletes who broke the men's and women's down run records at this year's event.

On Sunday (11 June 2023), Tete Dijana won the Comrades Marathon for the second consecutive year, with a record-breaking time of 5:13:58 that saw the North-West runner shave more than four minutes off David Gatebe's record set in 2019.

Meanwhile, Gerda Steyn came home first in the women's race, with a time of 5:44:56, breaking the down run record held by Frith van der Merwe since 1989 by about 10 minutes. This year's race was a downhill run from Pietermaritzburg to Durban, with about 17 000 runners taking part in the 87km event.

This year, in addition to the prize money given to the winners of the men's and women's categories, the Comrades Marathon Association also put up an additional R500 000 prize money for the winning runners, should they manage to break the long-standing records in their respective categories.

iTOO underwrote 100% of this prize money for the men's category and 50% for the women's category, despite its underwriting processes predicting it was almost a given that the records would tumble this year.

"We saw a high likelihood that the men's record would be broken, even though it wasn't quite a done deal, and an extremely high likelihood that the women's record would also be beaten. This was based on the fact that strong competitors took part this year, and the course being back to the old finish at Kingsmead, a shortened version of the previous few down runs," says Melita Thurling, Head: Liability and Special Risks at iTOO.

Despite being aware of the high likelihood that both records would be broken this year, Thurling explains that iTOO nonetheless wanted to be involved with the iconic South African race that brings so many South Africans together each year.

"We are committed to the Comrades Marathon for the long run and are currently in talks with the organisers about how iTOO could be even more closely involved going forward," she says.

Thurling notes that iTOO's decision to underwrite the prize money had allowed the marathon's organisers to raise the value of the prizes, without having to shoulder the full financial burden of having to pay out in the event that the records were indeed broken.

Thurling explains that prize indemnity is an insurance policy that provides protection to an insured should their contractual liability to award a prize be triggered. Where there is a large attractive prize, it makes sense to transfer the risk to an insurer.

"The premium is a fraction of the prize and allows the insured to boost interest in the event and create a buzz. The insurer uses statistical models to calculate the odds and rate the risk. A good example is a prize for a hole in one at a corporate golf day or pro golf tournament," she notes.

"However, there must be an element of uncertainty and circumstances where there will not be a pay-out. The value of the prize is the policy cover limit, and the premium is dependent on the value of the prize and the statistical odds."