Elroy Gelant, Gerda Steyn flying SA flag at Cape Town Marathon

The 2025 Sanlam Cape Town Marathon, taking place tomorrow, marks another milestone in South Africa’s premier road race, which now stands just one step away from joining the prestigious Abbott World Marathon Majors series in 2026.

With a new dual-start format in Green Point and a world-class elite field, organisers are expecting one of the fastest and most competitive editions yet.

“This is the best and strongest field the African continent has ever seen,” said race CEO Clark Gardner. “With eight Platinum Label and 10 Gold Label athletes, I think the race records may be broken again this year, as we saw in 2024.”

Gardner emphasised the broader vision behind the event’s growth. “We understand our responsibility to develop running on this continent and give more African runners the opportunity to race at this level. You can see that in our South African field — especially the men’s race — where all our top local athletes who can run under 2:10 will line up.”

The marathon caps a weekend of running that begins today with the Peace Trail Runs — 43km, 22km and 11km — and the 10km and 5km Peace Runs. In total, 41 000 athletes will take part across all events, including 24 000 marathoners. To manage congestion, staggered wave starts will be used across both routes, supported by chip timing.

Tomorrow’s programme opens with the Peace Flame Ceremony at 5:55am, followed by the Wheelchair Invitational at 6:10am and the Elite start at 6:15am.

South Africa’s Elroy Gelant headlines the men’s field after breaking the national marathon record (2:05:36) in Hamburg this year. He faces formidable opposition from Kenya’s Ronald Korir (2:04:22) and Bethwell Chumba Kibet (2:04:37), along with Morocco’s Othmane El Goumri and Ethiopia’s Asefa Boki Kebebe.

Veteran Stephen Mokoka, a three-time Cape Town winner, is also back and eyeing a fourth title. “I’ve run this race four times, with three wins and a second — so I’m hoping to repeat history,” he said.

Kenya’s Winfridah Moraa Moseti (2:16:56) and Angela Tanui (2:17:57) lead a powerful women’s lineup, joined by Ethiopia’s Meseret Belete and 2015 world champion Mare Dibaba. South Africa’s Gerda Steyn — a multiple Comrades and Two Oceans champion — returns to defend home pride. “It’s an honour to be here in such a high-quality field,” said Steyn. “The support of the Cape Town crowds always makes it special.”

Defending champions Sho Watanabe (Japan) and Michelle Wheeler (USA) headline the wheelchair races. Watanabe will again duel Dutch rival Geert Schipper, while Wheeler faces Mexico’s Yeni Aide Hernandez Mendieta.

This year’s total prize purse tops R4.5 million, with R437 500 for each marathon champion and additional bonuses for record-breaking performances.