On the brink of Marathon Nirvana in Cape Town

The Sanlam Cape Town Marathon is poised on the brink of marathon nirvana through joining the select group of seven planet designated as Abbott World Marathon Majors (AbbottWMM) but tomorrow’s (Sunday 24 May) 32^nd edition of Africa’s greatest footrace will reveal that the event has already taken its place in the higher echelons of global distance racing.

There is little doubt the race has moved up several notches in every way since the devastating and dramatic events which led to the weather-related cancellation of last year’s race in October and boasts a field of exceptional quality.  

The record SCTM marathon entry of 27 0000 includes 8,500 international participants from 145 countries, with the largest contingents from the United States of America (1571 entries), the United Kingdom (712) and Germany (358). The leading African countries represented are Zimbabwe (263), Botswana (177) and Kenya (133). 

1800 marathoners are visiting the city to take part in the AbbottWMM Marathon Tours & Travel Age Group World Championships, providing depth of quality not just amongst the race leaders but through every age group category.

A remarkable array of platinum, gold and silver-level athletes will ensure the most competitive marathon ever on the African continent, by far.

Fifteen men boast marathon personal best times faster than Abdisa Tola’s 2024 race record of 2:08:16 while nine female athletes taking part have run faster than Glenrose Xaba’s impressive 2:22:22 race record from 2024.

Cape Town has enjoyed hosting a sprinkling of big-name marathon athletes in the past, but these were in the twilight of their careers. This year’s elites are currently racing at or near the peak of their powers.

Ten of the fifteen male and five of the nine female athletes have recorded marathon times faster than the record in the past year and will be looking to Cape Town to move them further up the global rankings.

They are not just here to make up the numbers, to ensure the SCTM retains its global status. These elites are racing in Cape Town to enhance their careers as professional athletes, as well as a desire to be part of marathon history.

Eliud Kipchoge is arguably an exception, as few would suggest that his best years still lie ahead. But equally no one will doubt the added value of the presence of the greatest marathon athlete of all time at the start of his global challenge adventure to race on every continent.

While the great man, who won two Olympic gold medals and eleven AbbottWMM titles, might not stand on the podium in Cape Town, his 2:05:25 just over a year ago at London Marathon – three minutes inside the SCTM record – suggests he may not be far off.

“They say North, South, East or West, home is best… Cape Town is in Africa, and I belong to the African continent,” said Kipchoge at the elite athletes media conference yesterday. “This is my home, this is my soil, and I am a child of Africa.

“That’s a big reason that I am here, to show my support for Cape Town to become a Major marathon next year,” said Kipchoge.

“The culture of running here in South Africa is really amazing – when I wake up at 6 o’clock to run, I see everybody out there, and the same thing in the evening.

“I also had the opportunity to go to Langa and saw how much the children love sport. This is really the country of sport, and the perfect home for a World Marathon Major,” he added.

Ethiopian Mohamed Esa, 25, has stood on three AbbottWMM podiums, including Tokyo, Chicago and Boston (second on each occasion) and, with AbbottWMM status set to be awarded to Cape Town retrospectively provided all boxes are ticked, will be looking to increase that to four.

With a marathon PB of 2:04:39, set in Chicago in 2024 (he ran just 10 seconds slower in last year’s race), Esa starts second to pole position behind Kipchoge’s 2:01:09 from 2022, with his former compatriot now competing for Israel, Maru Teferi, close behind with his 2:04:44 at Valencia 18 months ago on his calling card.

Boki Kebede Asefa returns to Cape Town following his week of disappointment last October, more determined than ever to make his mark on the African continent. He warmed up for the SCTM with an impressive second place in 2:05:55 in Doha earlier this year, just 15 seconds off his best set in Amsterdam in 2024.

A clutch of other sub-2 hr 06 min marathoners increases the size of the engine room up front with 24-year-old Kenyan Benard Biwott a name to watch in years to come and quite possibly tomorrow. He debuted with a 2:05:54 at Frankfurt in 2024 before improving to 2:05:25 in his second in Paris last April.

Two other Ethiopians in the field have clocked 2:05:33 marathon bests – Mulugeta Asefa Uma in winning the Paris Marathon in 2024 and Yihunilign Adane, 30, who ran the time in Osaka this year after running faster than 2 hr 10 min in fifteen of his twenty marathons.

Kenyan Justus Kangogo ran his marathon debut in Shanghai in 2016 and clocked his best of 2:05:57 in Berlin in 2023, just missing his best at Valencia five months ago.

Just outside the 2:06 club are Ethiopian Jemal Yimer Mekonen (2:06:08 in Seoul in 2024) and Adane Gebre Kebede, a well-known face in Cape Town.  Kebede  won the SCTM in 2023 before running second to Tola the following year, his 2:08:32 the third-fastest ever in Cape Town.

Zimbabwean Isaac Mpofu launched his international career with a win in the Durban International Marathon in 2022 and went on to achieve top ten positions at the 2022 and 2025 World Athletics Championships. His marathon best of 2:06:48 in Valencia in 2022 suggests he could stay with the leaders for much of the race.

Once again, three times SCTM champion, Stephen Mokoka (2:06:42 marathon best),  will carry South African hopes , with Hendrick Ramaala-coached Desmond Mokgobu, and last year’s South African Marathon Champion, Bennett Seloyi, other leading local campaigners hoping to mix it with the marathon magicians for as long as they are able.

Kenyan Kalipus Lomwai returned to action after struggling with injury for many years, turning heads with his 59:26 third place in Rome last year. His first marathon post-injury on Sunday is eagerly anticipated.

Lesotho athlete, Kamuhelo Mofolo, 20, who boasts a 1:00:52 half marathon, makes his debut on Sunday.

Pacers are an important component of major marathons and the presence of South African multiple record-holder, USA-based Adriaan Wildschutt, adds a significant dimension to the race. KZN athlete and internationally-recognised pacer, Adam Lipschitz, and Germany’s Johannes Motschmann will join Wildschutt serving in this capacity.

Another Kenya legend will be in action tomorrow, adding a regal touch to the women’s field as King Kipchoge’s presence does in the men’s.

A former double marathon champion in the World Athletics Championship and oldest winner of an AbbottWMM race, Edna Kiplagat, echoed her countryman’s positive thoughts on Cape Town. “I’m so grateful to be part of the elite race here in Cape Town. It is a great milestone that you have all worked to achieve, and I believe we are going to have a great race on Sunday.”

Remarkably at 46 Kiplagat is still running near the peak of her career and believes that if the course and conditions are in her favour, she can come close to her marathon PB of 2:19:50, set in London in 2014.

“I’ve had the greatest team who have been helping me with everything that I do, and I’m so grateful, because whenever I’m preparing for a race, they make sure everything goes well. I’m lucky that the support I get has really helped me to achieve all my goals, but I still have more ahead of me, including here in Cape Town.”

This marks Kiplagat’s second visit to Cape Town. “I was part of the Kenyan junior team taking part in the World Cross Country Championships in Stellenbosch in 1996,” she added. “I just missed a podium position, finishing fourth, and I’m hoping that I can set that right on Sunday with a podium place!”

Expect a quartet of Ethiopia’s finest marathoners to be to the fore at the business end of the race, with 29-year-old Dera Dida having all the credentials to add another marathon title to her impressive CV.

Wife of Olympic gold-medallist, Tamira Tola, and sister-in-law to winner of the 2024 SCTM, Abdisa Tola, the twice World Cross Country silver-medallist, Dida, enjoyed a stellar 2025, beginning with a runners-up marathon PB of 2:18:32 in Dubai. Two more second places at Paris in April and Berlin in September have made her determined to top the podium at Cape Town.

Mestawat Fikir, Ruti Aga and Tiruye Mesfin complete the fast foursome, all who boast marathon best times faster than 2 hr 19 min, with any one capable of winning on her day.

Fikir,26, won her debut marathon in Paris in 2024 in 2:20:45 before going on to record her personal best of 2:18:48 in Berlin five months later, where she placed second and boasts an impressive half marathon of 1:06:44, equal to Elana Meyer’s former world record.

32-year-old Aga has run the fastest marathon of the four with a personal best of 2:18:00, which she achieved in Dongying, China, in 2023. She won the 2019 Tokyo Marathon and has stood on the podiums of AbbottWMMs at New York, Berlin and Tokyo.

The youngest of the four at just 23, Mesfin ran her best in placing third at Valencia in 2024 in 2:18:35.

Has Lonah Saltpeter one more high-quality sub-2 hr 20 min marathon in her legs and might that be in Cape Town?  The former Kenyan Israeli citizen has re-written her adopted country’s distance records on track and road and is the fastest marathoner in the field after her 2:17:45 win in Tokyo in 2020.

Saltpeter has podiumed at New York, Boston and Tokyo, but may have to improve on her season’s best of 2:23:45 which she set in Valencia six months back.

The prize purse for the 2026 Sanlam Cape Town Marathon has been significantly increased, with the top 10 men and women, plus main race age group podium finishers (not to be confused with the Age Group World Champs) splitting a pot of R3,598,000 – 40% up from last year’s 2,578,000.

 The increased prize for the winner is now $35,000 (approximately R595,000, working on an exchange rate of R17 to the US Dollar), up from the $25,000 first prize on offer in 2025. Second place will now earn $20,000 instead of $15,000, while third place is worth $15,000 instead of $10,000.

The top 10 men and women, as well as the top five male and female wheelchair athletes, will be paid in US Dollars, as per standard practice in AbbottWMM events.

 Wheelchair athletes have also seen their prize purse increased by around 35%, with the total prize purse climbing from R612,000 to R833,000. The wheelchair winners will now pocket $10,000 instead of $8000, while second place is up from $4000 to $5500, and third is worth $4500 instead of $3000.

The incentive for breaking the men’s or women’s course record has also been increased by 33%, from $15,000 to $20,000, and the organisers have thrown in an extra R250,000 incentive for a new World Record!

Local athletes will also have something to race for, with the first three South African men and women claiming R25,000, R12,500 and R7500 respectively, while the first three Western Province athletes will be rewarded with prize money of R3000, R2000 and R1000.

Furthermore, if a South African marathoner can break the SA Record, he or she will pocket a cool $10,000 incentive. 

The combined prize purse for 2026, across the marathon, wheelchair race, 10km Peace Run and three Trail Runs, has been increased 37% from 2025’s R3,554,500 to R4,862,500. When all the record incentives are added, the total prize purse on offer amounts to a massive R6,602,500!

Tomorrow’s marathon action begins with the inspirational Peace Flame Ceremony at 7:20am, and then the Wheelchair Invitational race sets off at 7:50am, followed by the Elite start at 8am. These all take place in Fritz Sonnenberg Road, next to the DHL Stadium.

Next, the AbbottWMM MTT Age Group World Champs entrants will start in Beach Road, near the Mouille Point Lighthouse, at 8:05am.

The rest of the marathon field will then start in five waves – three in Fritz Sonnenberg Road and two in Beach Road – from 8:10am until 9:06am. The final cut-off for the marathon will be at 3:50pm.

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