The weather gods were smiling on the record field of athletes who took to the roads of the Cape Peninsula for the Old Mutual Two Oceans Ultra-Marathon on Saturday.
Race organisers could not believe their luck when the weather played along to give the athletes one of the easiest runs in years.
Cool, overcast conditions ensured a comfortable time for runners tackling both the 21-kilometre half marathon and the 56-kilometre main event which started in Newlands Main Road and finished at the University of Cape Town.
As a result there were no serious injuries and the absence of direct sunshine ruled out heat exhaustion and dehydration for most of the runners, although some people who pushed themselves too hard in the cool conditions in the half marathon had to have some medical treatment.
More than 14 000 runners entered the event this year compared with 12 000 last year.
The ideal conditions combined with the shouts of support and encouragement from spirited spectators egged the runners on and marathon winner Mluleki Nobanda finished in 3:09:21, the second fastest time since the record time of 3:07:17 was set by Zithulele Sinqe in 1988.
Warmly-dressed spectators lined the roads from the start of the race at 6am and at lunchtime they were still seen encouraging the last few stragglers at the back of the field.
Athletes got a festive welcome at the finish at UCT with music and food and drink stalls dotted around the grounds.
Race administrator Carol Sowray said the event had been incident-free. "It was a perfect day. The weather played along and all the other factors to make the event work just fell into place.
"There were no serious injuries and everything went off well. The crowds who came to see the race were fantastic," she said.