The Comrades Marathon is the greatest South African sports story that exists. Our broadcast is not a sports broadcast. It is a 14-hour act of witness. We are here to see these people. All of them.
14 hours is overwhelming. One hour is manageable. Within any hour of our show, a defined set of building blocks combine at a specific ratio to create the experience. Every decision flows from: how does this look in the Finished Hour?
30 History. 30 Thematics. 20 Traditions. 50 Runner Stories. 10 Geography. Pre-produced, cinematic, multilingual. Not filler — the premium layer of the show.
Anchor. Insights. Storyteller. Stats. Race. Five distinct functions that weave together to create a commentary experience built on deep preparation and genuine humanity.
AI Native — Claude is the memory of this project. Everything flows through it.
Speed — 80% of the work in 20% of the time. Then craft.
Just Make It — Don't wait for permission. Generate first, refine second.
Own It — This project will transform you if you let it.
Show, Not Broadcast — Narrative and storylines, not cables and cameras.
Deep Research — We go deep, or we don't go at all.
Humanity — Human, warm, real, sometimes messy, always authentic.
Polished Where It Counts — Cinematic craft meets human rawness.
Everyone Belongs — The road is the great equaliser.
Past & Future — Honour where it came from. Reach toward who it's becoming.
The Obligation — We are holding up a mirror to a nation.
Closest structural reference. Same format: before, through, after the race.
Gold standard for humanity in endurance commentary.
Tradition, aesthetic, and broadcast craft fused into sacred event.
Multi-camera selection, personalised viewing, premium graphics.
Graphics overhaul as the fastest signal of a new era.
The coolest aesthetic in endurance sport right now.
Great television is made up of building blocks at a ratio of 100%. Instead of worrying about 14 hours, we think about one hour. Then we ask: what are the building blocks within that hour?
| Block | % | Ratio | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Run | 55% | The primary block. The competitive race (men's & women's), the notables, and the backpackers. The soul of the show. | |
| Commentary | 70% | An overlay across the entire show. Voice, insight, storytelling, statistics. The most important creative investment. | |
| Graphics & Data | 15% | GPS tracking, ghosting data, split times, 3D course mapping. Done brilliantly = unbelievable storytelling. | |
| History | 10% | A century of stories, largely untold. Archive footage, legendary moments, the Fordyce Tap, great rivalries. | |
| In-Race Stories | 5% | Live storytelling from the road. Runners with cameras. Course reporters. Real, raw, in the moment. | |
| Back Stories | 5% | Pre-produced runner profiles. When they appear live, you already know their name. You already care. | |
| Packaged Inserts | 5% | 140 pre-produced pieces: history, thematics, traditions, runner stories, geography. | |
| Studio | 5% | Art-directed, purposeful. Not the old 80% model. Studio must earn its place. |
"If you're obsessed with how it looks in the Finished Hour, you're not going to spend too long talking about how many drones we have. Drones are 0.3% of the Finished Hour. Commentary is 70%. Put your energy where it matters."
The competitive front of pack. Men's and women's battles for the win. Elite splits, tactical moves.
Celebrities, public figures, green number runners, someone running their 51st Comrades.
The everyday runners. The middle and back of the pack. The soul of the race.
Families at the roadside. The child with a sign. The partner at the finish. The in-race human stories.
Pre-produced, cinematic, multilingual. Written, produced, sourced, and found. Not cobbled together from old footage. The premium layer of the show.
The founding story, legendary battles, iconic moments, the Fordyce Tap, great rivalries, the evolution across a century.
The "why" stories. Why do you run? What keeps you coming back? Emotional, thematic explorations of the soul.
The rituals that make Comrades unique. The upside-down sign. Arthur's Seat and the rose. Shosholoza. The Last Post.
Individual profiles — supporters, training journeys, the "why," green number runners. Pre-packaged so you know them before they appear live.
The landscape as character. Hills, valleys, coastal start, inland finish. Cinematic, immersive, felt.
Not every insert is in English. isiZulu, Afrikaans, Sesotho, isiXhosa — the languages of the runners and the road. The Comrades belongs to all of South Africa.
Cinematic framing, considered sound design, intentional typography. These are not disposable assets. They are the premium layer.
Conceived, researched, scripted, shot, and crafted as original pieces. Not repurposed footage.
Every insert must pass the Soul Test. If it doesn't make someone feel something, it doesn't make the cut.
Commentary is present for ~70% of the show. It is the single most prominent building block. Done brilliantly, it is beautiful. Done poorly, it destroys everything else.
Leads the momentum. Ensures we achieve the storytelling strategy and hit the right ratio of content. The conductor of the orchestra.
Knows the things others don't. Anecdotes, firsthand knowledge, inside stories. The upside-down sign. Why she changed her stride at 70km. Lived experience.
Drives the soul of our story. The poetic conscience of the broadcast. Finds the human moment when everyone else is watching the race.
The data layer. Not a stat-reading robot — a storyteller who uses numbers. Deeply researched, always in service of the story.
The play-by-play. What's happening on the road right now. Sharp, informed, and knows when to hand off to the other voices.
Nobody wings it. Every commentator arrives with exhaustive research on runners, history, traditions, course features, and story angles. The quality of spontaneity on air is proportional to the depth of preparation off air.
The Western States model, not the SABC model. Real people having real conversations. "Oh God, I've been awake since 3am, get me a coffee" — and someone walks in with a coffee. That's the energy. The overly polished broadcast is lacking the humanity that makes people feel something.
The Anchor and Storyteller must be articulate and intentional. The Insights, Stats, and Race voices get more latitude to be raw. The blend of polish and rawness is our signature sound.
Key monologues and set-piece moments are written, reviewed, and approved beforehand. Poetry workshops. Practice runs. Craft applied to the words. Nobody freelances on the big moments.
The old Comrades commentary was observational. Ours is interactive. Camera operators talk to runners. Runners on the course wear comms and talk back to studio. In-race reporters have conversations, not stand-ups.
Non-negotiable. Every person on the commentary team must genuinely care about this race. We'd rather have someone who trips over their words but means every one of them than a polished presenter watching the clock.
"If we are telling a story that doesn't make us feel something, we have chosen the wrong story. Emotion is not decoration. It is the signal that truth is present."
— Soul Manifesto
Every building block has a work stream. At the top of every work stream sits this question. It demands a written, opinionated answer.
The old model gave studio 80% because it's cheap. We give it 5% because studio must earn its place.
Not an open view of the finish line with two people in blazers. A designed environment with memorabilia, texture, and visual identity. Think Western States, The Masters.
Build the studio now. Use it for the next two months to bring runners in and film their stories. Then move it to race day. Maximum value from the investment.
What the commentators wear is more prominent in the Finished Hour than the opening graphic. We spend more time designing the wardrobe than the title sequence.
Graphics are expensive. So the fewer you do, the better you can do them. The visual upgrade is the fastest way to signal a new era.
Race against your own time. Race against last year's best. Real-time data storytelling that turns numbers into narrative.
Immersive geographic overlays showing exactly where runners are on the course. Elevation, distance, contextual data — layered into a visual experience.
The overall design aesthetic must be established before any graphics are built. Think F1. Think Betway Premiership. The upgrade is one of the easiest ways to level up.
We are looking for aesthetics. A feel. A look. A vibe. Executions that extend across every touchpoint.
The Comrades has an iconic logo and the best colours in sport — yellow and black. We don't reinvent. We elevate.
One style guide that extends to studio design, wardrobe, on-screen graphics, insert packages, social templates, and every visual touchpoint.
Track Smith, The Masters, F1 (Apple TV), the running brands at the absolute front of the coolest aesthetic on the planet.
The oldest ultramarathon on the planet. Recognised everywhere in the world. Currently has the worst creative direction in endurance sport. That's our gap.
This project is not run like a traditional broadcast production. Below are the operating principles that govern how every person on this project works.
Everything flows through Claude. Claude is the memory of this project. All side conversations, decisions, creative developments, and budget movements are fed back so it always has full context. Final creative decisions are made by people. Always.
80% of the work in 20% of the time. Speed is not sloppiness — it's a creative methodology. The faster you get to a first version, the more time you have for iteration and craft. Work with Claude to get 80% of the way. Come back with a pitch. Refine. Ship.
If you've got an idea, make it. Don't wait for instruction. Don't sit in a queue for approval. The history needs 30 videos — go for it. Don't ask which ones. If they're not good enough, we won't use them. We'd rather have something to react to than a blank page.
This project will transform you if you let it. Own it. Get stuck into it. Each person should be thinking: How does my work fit into the Finished Hour? What building block am I obsessed with?
When you talk about a broadcast, you worry about cables and camera positions. When you talk about a show, you worry about narrative and storylines. We are making a show.
The risk of "pick up the ball and run" is everyone picks up the same ball. Creative energy needs structure: clear work streams, clear ownership, clear accountability. Jack and the production team will build an org structure that boxes people at their strengths.
Before doing anything, watch: The Down documentary (closest structural reference), Western States Ultra (humanity in endurance), The Masters (tradition meets craft), F1 Apple TV (premium data & graphics), Spirit of Comrades by T+W (the energy we want live).
Drawn from the Soul Manifesto and the creative direction established in the team briefing. Every piece of work is measured against these.
We are not making content from the surface. Every story, every insert, every commentary note is built on deep, genuine research. The history is rich and largely untold. The runner stories are extraordinary and largely unheard. We go deep, or we don't go at all. The Soul Manifesto is a living document — it grows with every interview.
The Comrades is not about winners. It is about people. Our broadcast must feel human — warm, real, sometimes messy, sometimes emotional, and always authentic. "We admire people for trying, not for succeeding. The back-of-pack runner at 11 hours 59 is always the bigger story."
The inserts must be beautiful. The graphics must be premium. The studio must be art-directed. But "polished" does not mean sterile. Commentary can be raw. In-race stories can be shaky and breathless. The blend of cinematic craft and human rawness is our signature.
"Does this make someone feel what that man felt when he said: This race made me a better man?" Every piece of content must pass this test. This is not sentimentality. It is truth — the truth of what this race does to people.
The most accessible hard thing in the world. Anybody can do it. The road is the great equaliser. No VIP entrance. No hierarchy. Our broadcast honours that — relentlessly, tenderly, without irony.
The past gives the Comrades its weight. The future gives it its pulse. We hold 1921 in one hand and tomorrow in the other and refuse to let go of either. We are brave enough to put a first-timer's story next to a ten-timer's.
We are doing something that matters beyond sport, beyond television, beyond ratings. We are holding up a mirror and saying: look at what you are. Look at what is possible. "The better the stories we tell about ourselves, the better versions of ourselves we become."