Marathon de Cape Town (Marathon du Cap)

Cape Town is a city that doesn’t need to brag 🌍.

Table Mountain watches over everything, the Atlantic crashing on the right 🌊, and neighborhoods each with their own soul... And since 1994, a marathon that perfectly suits this scenery 😎. The Sanlam Cape Town Marathonhas gradually established itself as the leading marathon on the African continent🌍. This race is also the first in Africa to be part of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, that exclusive circle bringing together Tokyo, Boston, Berlin, London, Chicago, New York and Sydney 🤩.

Regarding the course, the race starts and finishes near the Green Point Stadium 🏟️, just a stone’s throw from the V&A Waterfront. At the start, the sun rises behind Table Mountain ⛰️. The route then passes through the District Six, which still bears the scars of apartheid, then the buzzing Woodstock, the legendary Long Street, and finishes along the Sea Point promenade Sea Point 🌊. Each neighborhood has its own story 🤓. All along the route, Table Mountain stands to the west as a permanent landmark 📍. Then, around the km 36, runners encounter what locals jokingly call the "Loop of Death" 💀. In these last 5 kilometers along the Sea Point, runners pass the finish line... 🏁 Before heading out for one final loop 😅.

Record question, the race has clearly taken on a new dimension 🤯. In 2026, the Ethiopian Mohamed Esa crossed the line in 2h 04' 55", smashing the previous course record by more than 3 minutes, the fastest marathon ever run on African soil on a certified route 🔥. For the women, the South African Glenrose Xaba holds the record at 2h 22' 22", a time that is also the national record for womenset during a home race, in front of her crowd 👏. And if the name of Eliud Kipchoge rings a bell, know that the double Olympic champion and former world record holder ran his first marathon on African soil here, finishing 16th in 2h 13' 29". Even legends have bad days 😬. The inaugural edition, in 1994, saw Julian Paul win in 2h 26' 45"for men, and Evelina Tshabalala for women in 2h 55' 49". In 30 years, times have dramatically dropped 📉. It’s proof of a race that grew quickly, well, and ambitiously 💪.

So, have you got the guts? 🤪