Oleg Kharitonov (38) of Russia has won the 81st Comrades Marathon "up run" from Durban to Pietermaritzburg. Kharitonov captured his first Comrades Marathon in a time of 5:35:16 .
South Africa's Brian Zondi (31), finished in second place with Vladimir Kotov in third.
Kharitonov ran a tactically sound race by tracking Kotov earlier and then making his break from the Belarus athlete with Poland's Jaroslaw Janicki. When Janicki began to fade the Russian stepped up a gear and once Zondi dropped back it was always going to be one man in the race.
Russia's Elena Nurgalieva won the women's race in a time of six hours and nine minutes, her third victory. South Africa's Farwa Mentoor crawled over the finish line after her legs gave way to take sixth place in this year's women's race.
