Zimbabwean Stephen Muzhingi has won the 2009 Comrades Marathon in time of 5:23:27.
Defending champion and record holder, Leonid Shvetsov of Russia was second in 5:33:10 and third place went to South African Charles Tjiane in 5:34:21.
Stephen, who was awarded 220 000 South African Rand for his efforts said he would be investing some of his winnings in advancing sports in Zimbabwe.
The 89.17km down run from Pietermaritzburg to Durban kicked off at 5.30 am on Sunday morning with almost 13 000 runners having entered.
The 33-year-old had a bad start to the race but managed to stay among the top ten men participants throughout the race. As he entered the last stretch towards the finish line at Durban's Sahara Stadium the crowd began singing and shouting encouraging words.
Russian sweep
Olesya Nurgalieva led a Russia sweep of the women's race after leading four other compatriot to win the women's Comrades Marathon in 6:12.12.
Her twin sister, Elena Nurgalieva came second in 6:13.14 followed by Tatyana Zhirkova in 6:15:03 and Marina Myshlyanova in 6:30.42.
Meanwhile, the organisers, CMA, in a statement also announced that entry numbers for the 2010 and 85th anniversary of the Comrades Marathon will be cut off at 20,000 runners, and no extensions will be entered into, thus making the 2010 run a special event as the CMA has never had a cut off number in the past.
"We are confident that this number will be achieved very quickly as in 2000 we received 24,000 entries.
"Therefore we urge all runners and potential runners that wish to run in 2010 to take careful note of the entry process and the cut off dates. We therefore request that you enter early to avoid disappointment."
TOP 10 MEN & WOMEN RESULTS
| Pos | Name | RaceNo | Country | Gender | Time |
| 1 | Stephen Muzhingi | 55925 | Zimbabwe | Male | 05:23:27 |
| 2 | Leonid Shvetsov | 49670 | Russia | Male | 05:33:10 |
| 3 | Charles Tjiane | 56834 | SouthAfrica | Male | 05:34:21 |
| 4 | Fusi Nhlapo | 14084 | SouthAfrica | Male | 05:36:17 |
| 5 | Lucas Nonyana | 52634 | SouthAfrica | Male | 05:39:29 |
| 6 | Mncedisi Mkhize | 27026 | SouthAfrica | Male | 05:41:14 |
| 7 | Bongmusa Mthembu | 31020 | SouthAfrica | Male | 05:41:52 |
| 8 | Peter Molapo | 32757 | SouthAfrica | Male | 05:42:25 |
| 9 | BethuelNetshifhefhe | 28689 | SouthAfrica | Male | 05:43:35 |
| 10 | Harmans Mokgadi | 47411 | SouthAfrica | Male | 05:44:49 |
| Pos | Name | RaceNo | Country | Gender | Time |
| 1 | Olesya Nurgalieva | 19988 | Russia | Female | 06:12:12 |
| 2 | Elena Nurgalieva | 19987 | Russia | Female | 06:13:14 |
| 3 | Tatyana Zhirkova | 19986 | Russia | Female | 06:15:03 |
| 4 | Marina Myshlyanova | 56699 | Russia | Female | 06:30:42 |
| 5 | Farwa Mentoor | 25609 | SouthAfrica | Female | 06:45:33 |
| 6 | Lesley Train | 47434 | SouthAfrica | Female | 07:01:07 |
| 7 | Marina Bychkova | 39390 | Russia | Female | 07:03:24 |
| 8 | Lindsay Van Aswegen | 11096 | SouthAfrica | Female | 07:08:55 |
| 9 | Belinda Waghorn | 39498 | SouthAfrica | Female | 07:09:36 |
| 10 | Kashmira Parbhoo | 20171 | SouthAfrica | Female | 07:16:13 |