For distance runners, Cape Town could be weeks from hitting the big time.
The 2026 edition of the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon (CTM) next Sunday takes place under scrutiny, and if all goes according to plan, it will join the Abbott World Marathon Majors (AWMM) alongside London, New York, Chicago, Boston, Berlin, Sydney and Tokyo.
Race director Clark Gardner told the Sunday Times that could happen by mid-June.
The assessors should let us know within two to three weeks after the event whether we have passed stage 2 and been awarded AWMM status
— Clark Gardner, Cape Town Marathon race director
“Should we pass stage 2 [the second year of achieving the stipulated criteria] on May 24, then this event counts as a major star for our participants,” he said in a written response to questions sent to him this week.
“The assessors should let us know within two to three weeks after the event whether we have passed stage 2 and been awarded AWMM status.”
The 2025 edition in October was cancelled after high winds wreaked havoc on structures set up for the marathon the night before.
But the date change to May, which Gardner said was necessitated by the global calendar, had gone down well.
Three trail runs
Around 27,000 people were set to do the marathon, while another 17,500 had entered the Saturday events, like the three trail runs on Table Mountain as well as 5km and 10km Peace Runs.
“The fact that over 8,500 international [outside of Africa] and about 1,000 Africans [outside of South Africa] purchased entries for this event justifies our move as the correct move.”
This was five times more than any other South African running event, “including our own international field that we had last year”.
“Our local ballot was also over eight times over-subscribed and the international ballot three times.”
The promise of AWMM status was a major factor in the heightened interest, Gardner said.
The storms that hit the Western Cape this past week had impacted the race and organisation, but not significantly.
“Our race village build has been delayed by a day or two, and we have a few road repairs to manage. The mountain trails are the most affected, but together with the help of SANParks we are busy repairing the trails and infrastructure.”
Weather patterns in mind
The forecast for next Sunday is partly sunny with some wind.
Gardner said the move in date had been done with weather patterns in mind. “Early May has had much wind in three of the past four years, but late May, when our event happens, has had mild conditions.
“We have also learned much from the disappointment of 2025 to be better equipped to manage adverse weather conditions.”
ASA unfortunately doesn’t sell our rights with these conditions and quality criteria, which puts our AWMM status at risk
— Gardner
Gardner also dismissed concerns of a potential fallout following controversy arising out of a contract where Western Province Athletics (WPA) had sold broadcast rights to CTM, whose major shareholder is the Faces group, of which Gardner is CEO.
“We have forgiven WPA for ceding rights it did not own ... There will be no repercussions for them on our part,” he said.
Broadcast rights
Athletics South Africa (ASA), which owns all broadcast rights, signed a new deal in April with SABC.
“The broadcast needs to be at AWMM and global standards, which requires the latest technology, helicopters, drones, static and on-the-move cameras, together with high-quality commentators and on-screen analytics ...
“ASA unfortunately doesn’t sell our rights with these conditions and quality criteria, which puts our AWMM status at risk,” said Gardner, questioning the right of the national broadcaster to own broadcast rights in the first place.
He pointed out that with ASA inking the new deal so late, CTM had already contracted a service provider to do the production, which will be broadcast by SABC and streamed on the Cape Town Marathon YouTube.
Stephen Mokoka has been the only South African man to win this race in the past 10 years, in 2022, 2021 and 2018. Glenrose Xaba, who set her 2hr 22min 22sec national record winning on her marathon debut in 2024, has been the only local woman victor.
This year the foreign contingent will again be tough. Israel’s Ethiopia-born Maru Teferi, the 2023 world championship silver medallist, is among the men’s favourites with a 2:04:44 personal best. Lonah Salpeter, a Kenya-born Israeli who took world championship bronze in 2022, is the top woman with a 2:17:45 best. Both face stiff competition from East Africa.
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