cape town marathon Archives - The Running Mann

27th October 202528th October 2025

A Deep Dive into the Cape Town Marathon cancellation (and the implications thereof)

There are two immediate questions to answer:

“Was the correct call made to cancel the Cape Town Marathon?” I believe that the answer to this question is a “Qualified Yes”.
“Should winds of 48km/h and gusts of 60km/h have resulted in the cancellation of the Cape Town Marathon?” To that the answer is an “Emphatic No”.

Actually, there is a third question that needs to be asked, “If we have 48km/h winds with 60km/h gusts on the night of 23 May 2026, will the Cape Town Marathon be cancelled again?” If the answer to that question is “Yes”, then we might as well kiss our World Marathon Major aspirations goodbye, pack up and go home. On the other hand, if the answer is “No”, then we should be looking at the root causes to ensure that they are not repeated.

24th October 202526th October 2025

Major Marathon Cancellations, Windy Marathons and the Peninsula Marathon Argument

This is a companion article to a forthcoming deep dive analysis article on the Cape Town Marathon cancellation and the impacts thereof. The article takes a look at the reasons behind other major marathons getting cancelled, marathons run in high wind and deals with the Peninsula Marathon argument.

Previous World Marathon Major Cancellations

Aside from Covid, there have been a very small number of Abbotts World Marathon Majors (AWMM) event cancellations. They are largely irrelevant in the comparison to the Cape Town Marathon (CTM) cancellation as the circumstances are very different.

The cancelled events are as follows.

New York Marathon 1995: The wheelchair division was cancelled a few minutes before the scheduled start time because 72km/h gusts of wind at the startline on Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. The gusts resulted in some planks that were erected to protect the bridge’s surface being ripped off and blown around. Organisers were concerned that lightweight racing wheelchairs, which can easily be destabilized by crosswinds, would be blown over or pushed into barriers on the bridge and therefore cancelled the wheelchair race. The able-bodied race (the vast majority of the field) continued as planned. The organisers faced criticism of discrimination, poor communication and not consulting with the wheelchair athletes when making the decision.

It is noteworthy that in 2014, New York Marathon runners faced sustained wind of 32-40km/h and gusts of up to 80km/h but the full event went ahead as planned. The organisers learned their lesson from 1995 and the wheelchair start was altered to fully accommodate this division.

1st April 20252nd April 2025

Breaking News: Comrades to take CTM’s October race date in 2026

[For anyone late to the party, this article was published on 1 April as an April Fool’s joke – but it does provide a satirical commentary on the South African road running scene.]

In a surprise move, Comrades have announced that they will be moving their 2026 race date to the October slot recently vacated by Cape Town Marathon (CTM). Comrades has traditionally been run on the second Sunday in June which would be three weeks after CTM’s new 23 May race date.

12th March 202513th March 2025

Save the Date (An evaluation of Cape Town Marathon’s date change)

Cape Town Marathon announced that the 2026 race date was moving to the end of May and the South African road running internet went mad. Social media is great at polarizing people and this case was no different…

In the left corner you had the Comrades runners, gloves up and spitting mad that the new race date is two weeks before Comrades meaning that they must choose between the two biggest and most prestigious distance races in South Africa in 2026.

In the right corner, you had the ‘a marathon is far enough’ camp, gloves up and spitting mad at runners who think the world revolves around the Comrades Marathon (and also seemingly very upset at ‘entitled’ Comrades runners being very upset).

21st October 202421st October 2024

The Rise of the Cape Town Marathon

In 2023 the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon became the first standard marathon in South Africa to crack the 10,000 finisher mark. The previous record was held by the Soweto Marathon with 9,274 finishers in 2019. Yesterday, Cape Town Marathon cemented its place on the top of the finisher’s table with 16,351 finishers – a massive jump of over 3,000 additional runners.

A comparison between the big four marathon events in South Africa makes for some interesting analysis. Cape Town Marathon has consistently been the most runner centric and best organised of the big four and this shows in their finisher numbers.

10th September 20231st October 2023

The Running Mann’s Guide to October 2023 Marathons

This article provides detailed information on all South Africa’s October 2023 marathons and ultras including race descriptions and recommendations. You can find the full 2023 marathon / ultra calendar here.

A summary of your choices is below:

13th October 202217th October 2022

The Running Mann’s Guide to October 2022 Marathons

This article provides detailed information on all South Africa’s October marathons and ultras including race descriptions, recommendations and travel information.

It’s a bit late so I’m just doing the basics this month. Will try to get the November / December article out with more time to spare!

A summary of all your choices is below:

Continue reading “The Running Mann’s Guide to October 2022 Marathons”

11th September 202111th September 2021

Cape Town Marathon (Give trees a chance)

The Sanlam Cape Town Marathon recently announced that they are on the inside lane to become the first Abbott World Marathon Major in the southern hemisphere. I thought I’d take a ‘pictorial’ look back at the two Cape Town Marathons I’ve completed in 2017 and 2019, with a heavy focus on the later when I ran with a tree on my back as part of a moving forest.

Two’s company, tree’s a crowd – and any more than that’s a forest!

Continue reading “Cape Town Marathon (Give trees a chance)”

27th September 201927th September 2019

Great Greeff (Two marathons a month keep the doctor away for this 84-year-old)

The Tony Viljoen Masters Marathon in East London was started in the late 1970s as a way to encourage athletes to continue participating in athletics events after they’d “past their prime”. In East London, “past your prime” is considered “over 35” – and the inaugural race in 1978 had a strict “no under-35s” restriction.

Four decades later and the rules have been relaxed to allow youngsters to run the race socially. However, this is a marathon that specifically caters to the older generation and prizes are only awarded for those born before 1984. These are awarded in five-year brackets from 35-39 all the way through to the oldest finisher.

This year it stopped at 75-79 in the ladies’ section of the race with the 75-year-old Paula Richardson finishing in 5:20. In the men’s field, the incredible 84-year-old Caspar Greeff pushed the finish categories all the way to the 80-84 division with a 5:30 finish. In doing so he became the oldest ever finisher of the race and probably set the record as the oldest South African to complete a marathon*.

* I’ve checked with those in the know and no one could identify any older marathon finishers in South Africa. Riël Hauman, the demure and normally sedate statistician, added “Caspar is a freak!”

Caspar Greeff relaxes with his Atlantic AC clubmates, Mark Wagenheim and Jonathan Kaplan, after the Tony Viljoen Masters Marathon (photo courtesy Jonathan Kaplan).

Continue reading “Great Greeff (Two marathons a month keep the doctor away for this 84-year-old)”

22nd September 201923rd September 2019

The Running Mann’s Guide to October Marathons & Ultra

This article provides detailed information on all South Africa’s October marathons including race descriptions, recommendations and travel information.

October is a quiet month for marathon runners with just seven options spread all around the country, including two very interesting new events:

Mpumalanga offers tour of the rural villages on the western extremities of the Kruger National Park with the Shikumba Filling Marathon (named for the petrol station where the race starts and finishes).
Limpopo hosts the only ultra marathon of the month with the Run 4 Cancer 48k in Polokwane.
After a marshalling error resulted in a short course last year, De Wet de Beer and the team from Jacaranda Marathon are promising a runner-centric reboot of the event. Definitely check this one out – and the new route – if you’re in Gauteng (where marathons are scarce in the second half of the year).
My pick for the month is Boland’s best, the toughest race with the warmest heart and the southernmost marathon in Africa – Voet van Afrika Marathon (more details below).
The last Sunday on the month provides a tour of the Kwazulu Natal South Coast from Scottburgh to Amanzimtoti at the Goss & Balfe Sapphire Coast Marathon.

There are two new marathons on the calendar. As I understand it (awaiting verification) you can use them to qualify for Two Oceans but not for Comrades. However, whilst they both seem like spectacular events, it’s doubtful anyone will actually use them as a qualifier for the reasons stated below:

The Clarens Golden Gate Marathon is an out-an-back route run entirely within the national park: an absolutely beautiful but disgustingly hilly part of the world.
The Cape Wine Marathon is an off-road circular tour of all the wine farms in the Durbanville Hills region of the Western Cape. There are 13 wine tasting tables so arrive with a clean palette and a designated driver.

Continue reading “The Running Mann’s Guide to October Marathons & Ultra”