Running royalty is heading to Cape Town next month to race the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon (SCTM) in what is a foretaste of what is to come in the next few years.
Some of the biggest names in the marathon game will be racing Africa’s premier marathon in just over four weeks as excitement builds towards Cape Town joining the exclusive Abbott’s Marathon Majors club in May 2026.
The SCTM forty-day launch released the names of several marathon superstars, and while most are past the dizzy heights reached in their hey days, simply having the likes of former world record holders and championship title winners Dennis Kipruto Kimetto, Lelisa Desiso and Mare Dibaba, in the Mother City is a shot in the arm for the Cape Town race.
Kimetto is reportedly looking to make a comeback to competitive racing after several lean years. With many of the world’s elite reaching their marathon peaks late into their thirties, Kimetto will hope that his relative lack of competitive racing over the past decade will have kept his legs fresh for several more years of elite racing.
Kimetto enjoyed a purple patch as a distance athlete between 2011 and 2015, during which he achieved the world’s number one ranking in the marathon, but he struggled with injuries thereafter.
His 1:11:18 for 25km in Berlin in 2011 stood as a world best for the distance until his compatriot Daniel Ebenyo ran five seconds faster in Kokata, India, last year.
In September 2012 Kimetto recorded the fastest marathon debut in history when he finished one second behind another world-beating Kenyan, Geoffrey Mutai, in Berlin, clocking 2:04:16 – the fifth-fastest in the world at the time.
Six months after setting a course record (2:06:50) at Tokyo in 2013, he broke the world marathon record at Berlin, winning in 2:02:57. The record stood until Eliud Kipchoge broke it in 2018 with a time of 2:01:39.
Injuries and a crisis of confidence impacted his career thereafter and Kimetto’s last full competitive marathon came in 2018 when he placed 10th in the Shanghai International Marathon in 2:18:54.
Kimetto grew up from a humble background in a rural farming community and is hoping to draw resources from his roots to race competitively once again in a high-profile marathon on African soil.
Ethiopian athlete, Desiso, has a marathon best of 2:04:45, set in Dubai in 2013, but is best known for his win in the ‘mid-night marathon’ at the 2019 World Championships in 2:10:40 in Doha, run at night to avoid the extreme heat.
Desiso overhauled race leader, Stephen Mokoka of South Africa, with two kilometres to go and held on for the gold medal.
The Ethiopian also won the New York Marathon in 2018 and the Boston Marathon twice, in 2013 and 2015 and ran his last competitive marathon in December 2020, when he clocked 2:10:44 in Valencia.
At 34 years, Desiso believes his best years could be in front of him and is looking to the SCTM to re-ignite his career.
Dibaba is one of the best-known names in distance running. Even though Mare is not related to the supremely talented Dibaba sisters, she considers Tirunesh Dibaba (who won three Olympic and four world championship track gold medals) to be her sporting hero.
Perhaps the Dibaba name encouraged her quest for distance running greatness and she became the first Ethiopian woman to win a marathon world championship, racing to victory in 2:27:35 in Beijing in 2015.
She twice dipped below the 2 hr 20 min barrier (in 2012 and 2015), with her personal best of 2:19:52 set before advancement in shoe technology made this feat seem less impressive than it was at the time. She finished third at the Rio Olympics in 2:24:30.
Mare Dibaba enjoyed a number of top finishes at marathon majors, notably winning the 2014 Chicago Marathon in 2:25:37 and placing second at Boston (twice) and Berlin, where she clocked 2:20:21 in 2019.
Still only 34, Dibaba hopes to return to her marathon best and is looking to Cape Town to improve on her 2:25:12 she set in Wuhan, China, in March this year, just a month after racing to a speedy 1:08:56 half marathon, also in China.
While the big names will add lustre to the event, this year’s SCTM is not devoid of talented younger and faster athletes, with both of last year’s Ethiopian winners returning to defend their titles.
Adane Kebede Gebre, 28, held off three times champion, Stephen Mokoka, by a whisker to take the title last year in 2:11:25, a creditable time given the windy conditions which prevailed, and will be seeking not just another win, but potentially a tilt at Mokoka’s course record of 2:08:32, set in 2018.
Kebede placed a competitive 4th at the Xiamen Marathon in January this year in 2:09:21 and has a personal best of 2:06:54 set in Doha in January 2023.
Even more impressive at last year’s SCTM was Tsige Haileslase, who won the women’s race in 2:24:17, just 15 seconds short of her compatriot Meseret Dinke’s record set in 2023 and in far more testing conditions.
Haileslase ran her fastest marathon in Hamburg, six months before last year’s SCTM, clocking 2:22:10, and looks a good bet to challenge for the course record in Cape Town next month.
She made a top ten position at London Marathon this year in 2:25:03 and boasts a speedy half marathon, having clocked 1:08:30 at the competitive Adizero Road to Records in 2021.
Among the South African pretenders, Cian Oldknow appears best-placed for success in what will be her fourth marathon this year. South Africa’s 2024 marathon champion and top finisher at the Paris Olympics, Oldknow has set her sights on improving her 2:25:08 set in Seville, Spain, in February and potentially Dinke’s race record of 2:24:02.
“I’ll give it my best shot!” Oldknow said at the launch.
With first prize of $25 000 and incentives for breaking the record, it could prove Oldknow’s biggest pay-day of her career, but that is not the most important driver for the Johannesburg athlete.
“Honestly for me, it’s more about the process and what I can get out of running rather than the prize money,” Oldknow explained. “I ran a 50km ultra-marathon this year where the prize money was R200 000 and stopped at 42km (while she was leading) because it was more important to meet my training goals.
“I think if you put the smaller things in place and gain satisfaction from running, then the financial rewards will follow, such as the SCTM prize money. I love my running but don’t want it to become a burden by having to make money to live.
“Running for my country means a lot to me. Running overseas, such as in Paris, is great but it’s also good to be able to compete in high profile competitive races at home. There is such an amazing running community here in Cape Town.
“I’m excited to see what Sanlam Cape Town Marathon has done for the sport and still plan to do in the future.”
Oldknow acknowledges the current depth of talent among the younger generation of athletes in South Africa. “I’m not sure why this is,” said Oldknow, “But it’s working! It is inspiring to feed off each other and so improve our performances.”
Relatively young in her career, Oldknow has also benefitted from being able to brush shoulders with the world’s marathon greats. “Paris Olympics was an incredible experience, standing next to athletes you’ve looked up to as role models for years.
“On the Friday night before the race, I found myself next to Eliud Kipchoge and as I turned around, I realised that I belonged there too. I was lucky to get to the Olympics, the pinnacle of the sport, at the start of my marathon career. I came away feeling like this was just the beginning.”
The announcement that one of the other leading distance runners in South Africa, Glenrose Xaba, will be making her marathon debut in Cape Town next month adds further spice to the women’s race. Two months ago Xaba took down Elana Meyer’s 23-year-old national10km road record, her 31:12 in Durban shaving one second off the previous mark.
“I’m really excited about running against Glenrose,” said Oldknow. “She’s been in fantastic form and has run a really fast half marathon (1:08:37). Although we are all trying to win, we support each other to achieve our goals. It’s great to be part of a time when our ladies are running fast times.”
Fast times are what Oldknow has in mind. “My first goal is to get my time down in the marathon. I’d like to compete in next year’s World Championships (in Tokyo), where the qualifying time has been tightened from 2:26:50 to 2:23:30, and also to aim for the Olympics in 2028 for which I’ll have four years of preparation.”
Former South African track and marathon great, Hendrick Ramaala, applauded SCTM for bring the marathon greats to Cape Town. “I’m excited about the announcement. As a South Africa, it’s great to get these big names to our country,” said Ramaala at the launch.
“It gives incentives to our younger athletes. They will chase the fast guys and bring their times down. This will help raise our standards and records will go.
“I believe this generation (of South African athletes) will do great things,” Ramaala continued. “There was a dip in performances (by South Africans) after my generation, but these young athletes today are the real deal.
“These guys train so hard. If they could just gain the confidence to go into races against the east Africans, they would be able to do amazing things. And providing a big race stage at home, like the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon, will help to boost their confidence and performance.
“You have the full package here – a high-profile race with good prize money, an international field with strong elites and South Africa’s best. Fast times are coming!”
Ramaala underlined the advantage gained from home support. “The love from your own people is so much bigger and better than any support you may get overseas. When we compete over there, we are just actors delivering performances.
“We didn’t get the opportunity to run world class races at home, but this generation is benefitting from this and the extra support and love they get from home supporters.”
Ramaala stressed the importance of the correct mental preparation and creating the self-belief to win big races.
“We need to work hard to establish a culture of self-belief in our running. We must learn from the east Africans who believe that they will win a race, simply because they are Kenyan or Ethiopian! It’s part of their culture.
“It will help to have one or two champions as role models. The younger runners can then aspire to reach similar levels and achievements. But the most important thing is to make sure that our kids love the sport.”
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