Sanlam Cape Town Marathon in line to become the seventh Abbott’s Marathon Major as thousands set to race the streets of the Mother City

The Sanlam Cape Town Marathon remains on course for Abbott World Marathon Majors membership in 2025 as 18 000 participants prepare to toe the start line at dawn tomorrow (15 October 2023), significantly up on last year’s race.

Excitement levels should thus be sky-high when the 42.2 kilometre race gets underway from alongside the DHL Cape Town Stadium in Green Point.

The #YouDoCount drive to encourage and enable more runners to take part in the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon and the race’s Free Entry campaign led to 2000 entries awarded to athletes who would otherwise not be able to afford to take part. 

Alongside the increase in entries, the event has also improved the running experience for 2023. The course is flatter and faster, the finish line atmosphere with grandstands lining the blue carpet is set to be electric. 

For the elite athletes the increase in the prize purse to R2.8 million is a significant incentive, especially as there is an extra $5 000 on the line should the existing course records be broken by the 2023 winners. And there is every chance that both will go tomorrow.
The removal of District Six hill, and its 90 metres of elevation gain, could make the course up to 2 minutes faster for the elite men and 2 minutes and 30 seconds quicker for the elite women, according to analysts. 

Course record holder, Stephen Mokoka (2 hours, 8 minutes and 31 seconds, set in 2018) is back in search of his fourth Sanlam Cape Town Marathon title and was clear about his goal to improve the record at the elite athletes’ media briefing yesterday. 

“This is my fourth appearance at the Cape Town Marathon and I’ve supported the race since it started. And I hope that I’ll be invited back as an ‘old man’ when Cape Town is an Abbott Marathon Major in 2025!” Mokoka joked. 

“It’s good to be back in Cape Town. This event significantly boosts the City’s economy and will do so increasingly in the future when we become an Abbott’s Marathon Major. 

“My target is to run the allcomers record. If I remember correctly, the allcomers record is 2:08:14, set by my late father-in-law, Zithulele Sinqe. So I always wanted to try for it. If it’s a good day I will go for it and be happy to get it.    

“I’ve run my fastest times for short distances in South Africa but not the marathon. My goal is to run a fast marathon on South African soil, so I don’t have to travel long distance abroad to do so. 

“I’ll be very happy if we get Marathon Major status – it will be good for the whole country. I’ve been exposed to two of the candidate cities – Cape Town and Sydney – and I don’t see much difference between the two. If we get it, we will draw the world’s best marathoners to Cape Town and this will be good for our sport through inspiring our athletes to run fast times.” 

“We don’t know what will happen in the next few days – let’s see what might be possible.” 

If Mokoka has his eyes on the record, so does 2021 women’s winner, Lydia Simiyu of Kenya. Simiyu had an advantage of coming in under the radar two years ago, as a marathon debutant, and raced to victory in a record 2:25:41. She will be determined to reclaim her record from Ethiopian Meseret Dinke, who won in 2:24:02 last year. 

Simiyu will need to get the better of a strong line-up and a group of fast Ethiopians, including Tsige Haileslase, Melesech Tsegay, Ayinadis Teshome Birle and 20-year-old Selam Fente Gebre, who has enjoyed success in the 10km SPAR series in South Africa. She will have compatriots Sheila Chepkech and Cynthia Chepchirchir Kosgei in her corner. 

Lesotho’s Neheng Khatala will carry the flag for the Southern African nations.  The 31-year-old qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in Cape Town with her 2:28:06 personal best on the Killarney motor racing track and will be eager to do so again for Paris but will need to run over two minutes faster to achieve her dream.

A feature of the 2023 edition of the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon is the presence in the field of the current champions of South Africa’s three most prestigious road races – Comrades Marathon winner, Tete Dijana, Two Oceans champion, Givemore Mudzinganyama and Cape Town Marathon’s Mokoka. And all three are here to tango. Dijana, in particular, has an eye on the podium. 

Remarkably, Dijana confirmed at the media briefing that he still keeps his job as a security guard, despite his earnings as a professional athlete likely outweighing his monthly salary by an order of magnitude. “It’s about passion not money,” he commented. 

Along with these three, the men’s crown is expected to be contested by Kenyans Raymond Choge and Joshua Kogo and Ethiopians Bayelign Teshager, Adane Kebede Gebre, Haile Zewdu and Yemane Tsegay. 

But don’t discount passionate South African marathoners, including Elroy Gelant, Melikhaya Frans, Desmond Mokgobu and Sboniso Sikhakhane, making a full go at beating the Paris Olympics qualifying standard of 2:08:10. 

For the second year the race will also host an elite wheelchair race. The event will be South African paralympic legend, Ernst van Dyk’s penultimate elite race. The 50-year-old won eight Olympic medals across five Paralympic Games and dominated the wheelchair race at the Boston Marathon for over a decade. Van Dyk, who predicts that the course could be as much as five minutes faster this year, will face stern competition from Geert Schipper, Rafael Botello, Michael McCabe, Gonzalo Valdivianos and Sean Frame. 

“2023 is an incredibly significant year for the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon as we mark our second year as an Abbott World Marathon Majors Candidate,” stated Karl Socikwa, Group Executive: Market Development and Sustainability at Sanlam. “We cannot overstate the importance of this event becoming a Marathon Major. 

“Our continent has yet to host an Abbott World Marathon Major where elite African runners can participate. This must change, and we are on the precipice of making history. Over 80% of the world’s best marathoners come from Africa and it is a travesty that Africa does not host a Major. 

“Becoming a Major would allow our exceptional African athletes to run on home soil and foster a vibrant sense of community,” Socikwa added.  “Sanlam is over 100 years old and has its roots in the Western Cape. It’s now grown to be the leading investment group on the African continent. Sport, and long distance running in particular, is a key pillar of our business strategy and in our relationship with the Cape Town Marathon, we have found a partnership that speaks to who we are.

“We are extremely proud and privileged to be in this relationship and have our fingers crossed that this partnership will facilitate Cape Town joining the Abbott’s Marathon Major club.

The racing gets underway at 06:10 on Sunday morning in Fritz Sonnenburg Rd, with the elite
wheelchair start group.  The 2023 Sanlam Cape Town Marathon will be broadcast live on SuperSport Variety 4 from 05:55.