Cape Town - The Sanlam Cape Town Marathon’s revised marathon route has received the green light from the City of Cape Town.
The route approval is the culmination of months-long consultation between the race organisers and the City to find a balance between meeting the Abbott World Marathon Majors’ route requirements and minimising the traffic impact on the city and affected areas on race day.
The marathon is Africa’s only World Athletics gold label status event but this will be the event’s first evaluation year as an Abbott World Marathon Majors Candidate race. If the multi-year evaluation process is successful, the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon will become Africa’s first Major in 2025.
“This is an important milestone and one of the major hurdles we had to cross,” said Clark Gardner, group chief executive of Faces.
“It took significant time and planning to create a detailed route mitigation plan in conjunction with professional traffic engineers to ensure that our impact on public access and Cape Town’s traffic remains minimal. We are grateful for the City’s positive collaboration and support, and are fired up to continue with our race planning over the next 11 weeks.”
The race route will see the following adjustments:
- The start and finish point moves to Helen Suzman Boulevard.
- Runners will immediately head towards the Southern Suburbs via the elevated freeway’s N1/N2 outbound lane, offering unparalleled views of the City, Table Mountain and harbour.
- Athletes will run through District Six for the first time.
- The revised starting point means that runners will only pass City Hall in the 2nd half of the race, at the 30km mark.
- The Buitengracht Street bridge will no longer feature.
- The number of route cut-offs will increase to ensure that roads can be reopened timeously and efficiently.
These route changes also enable the staging of an elite wheelchair race which will add a high-speed element to the marathon experience. The wheelchair race will start 15 minutes before the rest of the elites set off, and a lightning-fast finish time of approximately 1:30:00 is expected.
“Runners can rest assured that they will still get to enjoy all the beauty, views and vibe that has become synonymous with the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon,” Gardner added.
“The route may have changed slightly, but athletes will still pass beloved iconic landmarks as they journey through the Mother City’s diverse communities. Madiba will still greet them from the City Hall balcony to give them the boost they need for the final 12km of their marathon, and they will still be energised by the fresh ocean air as they run along Beach Road before they head to the finish straight. We are pulling out all the stops to show the world how to run a marathon to the African beat.”
Mayco member for safety and security, JP Smith said the City was pleased to continue its partnership with the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon and was thrilled by the event’s growth over the years.
“We are looking forward to another exciting year, especially with the Abbott World Marathon Majors candidacy. Having an Abbott World Marathon Majors race in our city would be like having a world cup every year and this means more job opportunities, more international exposure, more tourism and more economic prosperity for our city,” he said.
Sanlam head of brand Mariska Oosthuizen congratulated the organisers and behind the scenes crew who have made this year's event possible.
“This year's race is dedicated to celebrating everything that can be achieved when we work together,” said Oosthuizen.
The Sanlam Cape Town Marathon’s race week will start with the expo and registration at DHL Stadium in Green Point on October 13.
The 5km and 10km Peace Runs will take place on Saturday, October, 15, joining the 22km Trail Run and 46km Trail Marathon for an action-packed day. Race Week will culminate with the marathon on October 16.
Visit www.capetownmarathon.com for more information and to enter the 2022 event.
Cape Times