Cape Town Marathon (Cape Marathon) 2027

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

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

As for the course, the race starts and finishes near 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 crosses the District Six neighborhood, still bearing the scars of apartheid, then the buzzing Woodstock, the iconic Long Street, and finally reaches the seafront of Sea Point 🌊. Each neighborhood tells something different 🤓. All along the route, Table Mountain rises to the west, like a constant landmark 📍. And then, around km 36, comes what locals jokingly call the "Loop of Death" 💀. Over these last 5 kilometers along Sea Point, runners pass in front of the finish line... 🏁 Before heading out for one last loop 😅.

As for records, the race has clearly changed scale 🤯. In 2026, Ethiopian Mohamed Esa crossed the line in 2:04:55, smashing the previous course record by more than 3 minutes—the fastest marathon ever run on African soil on a certified course 🔥. In the women’s race, South African Glenrose Xaba holds the record at 2:22:22, a time that is also the women’s national record, set in a home race, in front of her own crowd 👏. And if the name Eliud Kipchoge rings a bell, know that the two-time Olympic champion and former world record holder ran his first marathon on African soil here, finishing 16th in 2:13:29. Even legends have off days 😬. The first edition, in 1994, saw Julian Paul win in 2:26:45 in the men’s race, and Evelina Tshabalala in the women’s race in 2:55:49. In 30 years, times have been drastically lowered 📉. Proof of a race that has grown fast, well, and with ambition 💪.

So, are you in or not? 🤪