The UCT Memorial Run pays tribute to members of the club who have passed away over the years including former Comrades winners, Lindsay Weight, Isavel Roche-Kelly, Merrilyn Smith, Andrezij Okreglicki and Kevin Rochford.

In this year's 41st Anniversary Edition, we honour the memory of Isavel Roche-Kelly. 

About Isavel Roche-Kelly

UCT athlete, Isavel Roche-Kelly was one of South Africa’s most talented distance runners.

Her unique spirit and positive view on life contributed significantly to her extraordinary athletics achievements which made the diminutive Isavel a giant at the clubhouse and throughout UCT, where she was named UCT sportswoman of the year in 1980 and 1981.

Isavel was a fun and run-loving young woman, but serious minded when focussed on her talent. Extremely loyal to and proud of UCT Athletics Club, she had roots in the Free State and Ireland.

With no prior background in running, she unleashed two years of running magic at UCT with astonishing performances over the distances from 1500m to 90km, rivalling the best in the country. She broke the SA Marathon record and was the first woman to run faster than 7 hours at the Comrades Marathon.

Tragically, she died at just 25 in a cycling accident in Ireland while training to make the Irish Olympic Team.

UCT Residences

For the first time, the 41^st Edition of the race will incorporate an Inter-Res Race where residences will go Head to Head.

The res with fastest finishers will be crowned 2024 UCT 10KM Res Champion and will receive a trophy. We have two trophies for males and female winning groups.

In the years to come, the competition will remain a tradition of the UCT Memorial Run and other residences will have the opportunity to contest the trophies from current winners.

Students in UCT Residences are therefore invited to enter and compete for their res. 

Entry fee for residences has been reduced to R50 to accommodate more students. However, the public will pay the R90 entry fee including all other people interested in the race such as UCT Staff.