This is a preview of the event – click here to read how three of the four course records were shattered in Cape Town.
Kenya’s double Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge says he is looking to inspire a new generation of runners this weekend as he takes part in his first official marathon on African soil – and you can watch it live right here on this page.
The running legend has chosen Sunday’s Sanlam Cape Town Marathon as the opening stop for his Eliud’s Running World Tour, which will see him tackle a series of seven events across all continents over the next two years.
His goal is to inspire people to lead healthier lives, and as he touched down in South Africa this week, he reiterated his desire to inspire people, both young and old, to get up and start running.
Final hurdle in evaluation process
Despite being born in Kenya, this weekend’s race will herald the first professional marathon race in Africa of his long and distinguished career; it will also go a long way to helping the organisers in their push for the event to be recognised as the continent’s first Major.
Last year’s race, which should have been the final hurdle in its evaluation process to join the Abbott World Marathon Majors, was cancelled due to extreme weather in the South African capital, which means their candidacy should now be confirmed following a successful race this weekend.
“Africa is where my journey as a runner began and where the foundation of my success is deeply rooted. To start this World Tour in Cape Town is very special,” said Kipchoge. “It is about celebrating the strength of African running and inspiring the next generation.
“Also, to race my first-ever marathon on the African continent holds deep meaning for me, and I cannot wait. I know South Africa is a really sporting nation, but I want to make more and more South Africans run.
‘I’m rooting for it… I’m pushing for it’
“I want to help grow this event to 60,000 participants and help it become a Major. As an African, I’m rooting for it… I’m pushing for it. We don’t have a Major marathon in Africa yet, but this is a growing continent, and it’s our time as Africans to have Cape Town as one of the World Majors.”
CEO of the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon, Clark Gardner, said welcoming Kipchoge to Cape Town for his first marathon on the African continent carried deep significance for the race.
“It’s amazing having the GOAT arrive in Cape Town for the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon, as he’s the one who inspired us to aspire to having an Abbott World Marathon Major,” he said. “He was a pioneer of African excellence in road running, and that paved the way for us to chase an Abbott World Marathon Majors candidacy.
“Eliud represents the very best of what running can inspire, and moments like this remind us what is possible when the world’s greatest athletes connect with the places and people that shape the sport.”
Ready to sit among marathon’s elite races
Once confirmed, Cape Town will join the likes of Tokyo, Boston, London, Sydney, Berlin, Chicago and New York as one of the elite marathon destinations around the world.
Kipchoge will line up in one of the strongest fields ever assembled for an African marathon, with both the men’s and women’s course records very much under threat from the star-studded line-up.
To break those records, the winning man will need to cross the line in less than 2:08:16, the time posted by 2024 winner Abdisa Tola of Ethiopia. The women will need to beat Glenrose Xaba’s South African record of 2:22:22, run that same year.
After Kipchoge, the next fastest man in the field is another Kenyan, Stephen Kiprop (2:03:37), followed by Israel’s Maru Teferi (2:04:44), and then comes a host of 2:05 marathoners: Kenyans Bernard Biwott (2:05:25) and Justus Kangogo (2:05:57), Ethiopians Yihunilign Adane (2:05:33), Mulugeta Asefa Uma (2:05:33) and Boki Kebede Asefa (2:05:40), and South African record-holder Elroy Gelant (2:05:36).
The elite women’s race may see the Ethiopian trio of Ruti Aga (2:18:09), Dera Dida (2:18:32) and Mestawat Fikir (2:18:48) play a leading role in determining the pace, but they will need to be wary of two highly experienced and very fast veterans.
Lonah Salpeter, who is the fastest woman in the field on paper, clocked 2:17:45 when she won the Tokyo Marathon in 2020, while 47-year-old Kenyan Edna Kiplagat (2:19:50), the two-time World Marathon Champion in 2010 and 2011 and Boston Marathon winner in 2017, can still compete with the best in the world.
Star-studded field lined up for Cape Town
A 2:08 finish is still well within 41-year-old Kipchoge’s reach. In 2018, he broke the world record for the first time when he ran 2:01:39 in Berlin. A year later, he shot to international fame when he clocked 1:59:40 in the INEOS Challenge in Vienna, which did not qualify as a world record but showed the world that the two-hour barrier in the marathon could be beaten.
In 2022, again in Berlin, he took his own world record down to 2:01:09 before that was then beaten by another Kenyan, Sabastian Sawe, who became the first man to officially run a sub-2-hour marathon in 1:59:30.
Kipchoge’s world tour will also see him race in Porto Alegre, Brazil, and Melbourne, Australia, this year, with further events planned for North America, Asia, Europe and even Antarctica.
The Sanlam Cape Town Marathon starts at 08:00 local SAST time on Sunday, which is 07:00 in the UK, 08:00 in central Europe, 02:00 EDT, 01:00 CDT, and 23:00 the previous evening PDT. It will be shown live on the official race YouTube channel, which is embedded below so you don’t have to leave this page.
