A Deep Dive into the Two Oceans Ballot Entry Process

Having more people wanting to run your race than you can accommodate is a good problem to have. We are very fortunate to have this problem at Two Oceans for the 2026 event, especially considering the problems experienced in recent years.

The interim board committed to be open, honest and transparent in communications and decision-making – and this promise holds true with the election and appointment of the permanent board. In previous years, the number of ballot entries submitted has not been made public but the total number of ultra marathon (17,094) and half marathon ballots (28,506) has already been shared on social media.

Both are the highest numbers of entries ever received. Whilst the half marathon has always reached its allotment, there have been years when the ultra still had room left at the inn or only just managed to surpass the threshold. This has resulted in a lot more rejection and disappointment than in previous years.

In the spirit of transparency, this article provides a detailed breakdown of the ballot selection process and where every entry goes.

Why does Two Oceans need a ballot process?

A common question and sentiment from those who didn’t get the “Congratulations” message in the first ballot is, “It should be first come, first served.”

When a race is heavily oversubscribed, a ballot system provides a much fairer entry method. If it was first come first served the entries would likely sell out in hours (I think it was around 7 hours for ultra entries for the Covid-cancelled 2020 event). This prejudices those runners who do not have a stable and fast internet connection and gives an advantage to those that do. It also prejudices those in jobs where they cannot sit in front of a high tech computer screen and keep clicking refresh as well as those who are in service jobs with long shifts like nursing.

A first come, first serve system also puts massive strain on the computer systems and this can be expensive to accommodate for, especially as the current entry system is still very much on a legacy platform. There is a substantial risk of having the server crash and everyone being unhappy.

The ballot system has been in place for the half marathon since 2016 and for the ultra marathon post-Covid. At present, Two Oceans is the only road race that I am aware of that uses a ballot system but Cape Town Marathon will almost definitely introduce a ballot system in 2026. Comrades are still determining their entry process for the 100^th running in 2027 but I would not be surprised to see a ballot system introduced there as well.

Ballot systems are commonplace in all the marathon majors. To put things in perspective, London Marathon has just 17,000 of their 50,000 places open to general ballot and received 840,318 applications in 2025 which meant you had a meagre 2% chance of getting in. As we’ll see, you have a much better chance of getting lucky at Two Oceans than you do in London.

Spoiler Alert: What doesn’t matter

I have seen a lot of conspiracy theories thrown around and can confirm that your race, gender, where you live, when you submitted your entry, whether you DNFed at Comrades this year and what brand of toilet paper you use did not influence the ballot draw. The only factor that would boost your chances is how many previous Two Oceans events you’ve completed.

One factor that is not considered and I feel should be is speed. In the ultra marathon, I think men who have achieved a silver medal in recent years or have run a sub-3 marathon in the qualifying window and women with a sub-4h30 finish or 3h20 qualifier should be given preference. This gives an incentive to the runners at the front of the field. Good for age times should also be considered. These are on the table for consideration at the second ballot draw so keep up your training!

I also think consideration should be given to provide preference to those who participated in the ill-fated, sub-standard 2025 event. This would provide some restitution to those that paid Michelin Star entry fees but received a McDonalds experience.

One final consideration for the final draw would be whether to remove anyone from the half marathon ballot who has already been successfully selected for the ultra marathon. There are strong arguments on both sides but my own personal leaning would be to limit it to one successful ballot per person but allow the true running addicts the chance to get their fix during the substitution window.

Why can’t you increase the permit limits?

After the 2025 permit breach and subsequent promises and commitments made by the 2025 board that were not kept, the City of Cape Town was understandably irate with Two Oceans. From the City’s perspective, they did not care that there was a largely new board in place as they have ‘heard the same promises before.’

At one stage, securing a 2026 race date and event permits from the City of Cape Town was touch and go. Huge credit must go to interim chair Chris Goldschmidt, vice chair Glenn Muller and Stillwater for working some magic so that we are in the position where some people are disappointed that they didn’t get an entry on the first ballot and not that the entire running community is disappointed that there is no Two Oceans at all next year.

The City has given Two Oceans one last chance to prove that Cape Town’s problem child has reformed and can ‘act like a grown up.’ The bottom line is that there is no room to negotiate the permit limits or other related conditions with the City of Cape Town for the 2026 event.

I am very confident that with bringing on Stillwater as our professional event staging partner, 2026 will restore the previous status of Two Oceans. A successful 2026 event and a potential change of finish venue should provide scope to increase the entry numbers for 2027 without impacting the runner experience.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves…

How many ballots are available and where do the rest go?

The City of Cape Town’s permit for the 2025 event allows 14000 ultra and 17000 half marathon entries (this is the same number granted for the 2025 event). We will not exceed these numbers because that would mean the end of Two Oceans.

The first ballot made 9,000 ultra and 10,500 half marathon entries available for selection. The remainder are allocated to international runners (which is done on a first come first serve basis), charity entries (also first come first serve with a premium on the entry which benefits the charity), Blue Numbers (those with 25+ finishes get free entry and other Blues pay full price but get early preferential entry), Two Oceans Marathon Initiative (TOMI) free entries for disadvantaged runners and there are a small number of complimentary entries (e.g. given to sponsors).

The exact projected breakdowns for the ultra and half are presented below (this is exactly what was presented to the City of Cape Town on 1 September as part of our monthly recovery report plan to them). The first ballot allocations are deliberately prudent and are about 1,000 below the total ballot projections to mitigate any risk of overselling.  All excess entries will be allocated in the second ballot (which will also include any remaining entries not taken by the below categories and September ballot entries not paid for by 31 October).

There were 936 BNC ultra and 1,309 BNC half marathon entries booked and paid for in the preferential window. This means that the difference to the above projection (264 ultra and 191 half entries) will be added to the second ballot pool drawn in November.

On a personal note, I understand that board members are allocated two complimentary tickets each. As a Blue Number holder I have already paid for my entry and have allocated one entry to a runner who has recently lost his job and will give the other entry to a runner who would not otherwise be able to run the ultra. I am not yet sure if my wife plans to run but, if so, she will have to sort herself out (and won’t be getting an A seeding).

I can also commit that no board members will be allocated hundreds of entries to give to their friends, families and followers in 2026.

Who got the 9000 ultra marathon ballots?

There were 17,094 ballot entry applications. With 9,000 entries on offer this means that 52.7% of the total applicants got an entry in the first ballot draw.

• There were 323 Blue Numbers Club (BNC) members and they all got an entry. These are additional BNC runners that did not enter in the preferential guaranteed entry slot window for whatever reason.
• There were 4,141 runners who had completed 3 or more Two Oceans ultra marathons. They all got an entry.
• There was a small group of 303 applicants who have one or two Two Oceans ultra finishes but have completed five or more Two Oceans events in total. They all got an entry.
• This left everyone else, 12,329 applicants, with 4,233 entries available which equates to a 34.3% chance of getting selected.

Who got the 10500 half marathon ballots?

There were 28,506 ballot entry applications. With 10,500 entries on offer this meant that overall 36.8% of the applicants got an entry in the first ballot selection.

• There were 237 BNCs and they all got an entry.
• There were 3,039 runners who had completed 4 or more Two Oceans half marathons and they all got an entry. This is one finish higher than the same draw in the ultra as 3 or more would leave hardly any entries available for the general ballot.
• There were 660 applicants with five or more Two Oceans events completed but fewer than 4 half marathons. They all got an entry.
• This leaves 6,564 remaining ballots with 24,570 applicants which drops the selection probability down to 26.7%.
• This was split into a 70% allocation for club runners (4,595) and 30% to unlicensed runners (1,969). In both cases 1,000 ballots were reserved for first time entrants.

The detailed breakdown for the last bullet above is:

• Club Runner & Run Before: 5,302 applicants / 3,595 available = 68% selection probability
• Club Runner & Novice: 4,470 / 1,000 available = 22% selection probability
• Non-Club Runner & Run Before: 5,734 / 969 available = 17% selection probability
• Non-Club Runner & Novice: 9,064 / 1,000 available = 11% selection probability

Didn’t get in on the first draw – what next?

If you were one of the unlucky 8,096 ultra or 18,006 half marathon applicants who did not get in on the first ballot draw, don’t despair there are still plenty of options available.

There will be a second ballot draw in November which will consist of all remaining entries plus unpaid ballot one entries returning to the entry pool. In the past, between 8 and 14% of the first ballot entries were unpaid and returned to the entry pool.

There is the option of going the charity entry route which would mean paying a premium on your entry with the additional amount going directly to that charity. Charity entries will go on sale on 1 December and will be first come, first served.

There will also be thousands of entries that will go up for substitution. This is managed through the entry portal which mitigates the risk of fraud.

I also believe that we need to look at allowing substitutions, particularly for the half marathon, at the expo. The technology should allow for this and it will help to stop the problem of rampant bib banditting. My initial and unrefined thoughts would be that an amount, say R250, is donated directly to one of the TOMI charities for expo substitutions. Other than raising money for good causes, this would hopefully stigmatise bib bandits as ‘stealing from charities’. I would also suggest a R1,000 fine (once again with the money going into the charity kitty) for anyone caught swapping bibs.

One further aspect that needs to be looked at is enforcing anti-cheating rules and removing those who cheated in 2025 from the entry process. Two Oceans rules allow for a two year ban for anyone who cheated. There are a small number of in-race cheats that have not yet been disciplined and there were 346 ultra and 748 half marathon start batch jumpers in 2025.

Nothing personal

Getting a ‘We regret to inform you’ text message is not pleasant. None of us like rejection but it’s nothing personal. There are still plenty of chances to get your entry secured. The Two Oceans ballot system rewards loyalty so running in 2026 will make it easier to get an entry in future years.

With the election of a new board that has the best interests of the event and runners as their primary focus and a professional staging company in place with the skills and expertise to organise the largest running event in South Africa, Two Oceans is back. Expect Two Oceans 2026 to be a true return to form. I am looking forward to my 21^st Two Oceans ultra and hope that those disappointed after the first ballot will still get their ticket to Cape Town for April 2026.

Any queries questions and queries on your entry status can be directed to info@twooceansmarathon.org.za or the WhatsApp support line +27823424968.

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