The Complete Guide to the World Marathon Majors · Ian
The Complete Guide to the 2027 Cape Town Marathon: Entry, course and Race Week for Africa's First Major
The fifth installment in our series taking an in-depth look at each of the eight World Marathon Majors. In May 2027, Cape Town races as a Major for the first time. The lottery is over, but first-come spots remain. We follow one runner through her first marathon here, all 42km of it.
"The race doesn't start till mile 20." A New York runner who ran her first marathon in Cape Town in May 2026 held on to that line, which someone had passed along to her, for the entire race.
The scene comes from a video on Erika Holguin's YouTube channel. Mile 20 is about 32km.
The hardest mile really did come right around then, a climb just past 30km. The most miserable stretch came after it: the last loop, one more out-and-back along the seafront, facing the runners already heading for the finish.
On the same day, Eliud Kipchoge finished 16th. It was his first official marathon on African soil.
Ethiopia's Mohammed Esa won in a course record, and his 2:04:55 became the fastest marathon ever run in Africa. On May 23, 2027, the race will be held for the first time as a World Marathon Major—the first on the African continent.
· Race day: Sunday, May 23, 2027, with two start sites, the stadium and Beach Road · Cutoff: 6 hours 30 minutes, counted from the moment the last runner crosses the start mat · 2027 entry: the general lottery has closed (June 10–24); international tour operator and international charity spots are first come, first served · Entry fee: 2027 amount not yet officially announced · Expo and bib pickup: May 20–22, 2027, DHL Stadium; no race-day pickup · Aid stations: 15, about every 3km · Average May temperature: 16.5°C (about 62°F) · Source: the race's official guide, as of November 12, 2026
1From Pinelands in 1994 to Africa's first Major
The race traces back to a marathon held in Pinelands, on the outskirts of Cape Town, in 1994. In 2014 the insurer Sanlam took on title sponsorship and gave it its current name, and in 2017 it became the first marathon in Africa to earn a World Athletics Gold Label. The path to Major status began with candidate designation in 2021.
Then the October 2025 evaluation race was canceled because of dawn gales, and the wait stretched another year. The race moved to May and passed its second evaluation. The 2026 race drew about 8,500 registrations from overseas alone.
It's the second Major in the Southern Hemisphere, after Sydney. For runners collecting stars, not much changes. The Six Star finisher medal remains the original six races, and a Cape Town finish stacks up as a separate star.
There's no finisher medal for those who collect all eight; what the Majors organization has prepared is a display case that holds eight coins. The nine-race finisher medal hinges on Shanghai. If it passes the December 2026 evaluation, Shanghai becomes the ninth Major, and the first Nine Star finisher medal would come from the following year's Shanghai race, according to the Majors organization.
Cape Town MarathonSun, May 23, 2027 · D-189 · Cape Town, South AfricaSee race details
2The 2027 Cape Town Marathon Lottery Is Closed—Tour Operators and Charities Are What's Left
The general lottery has already closed. Entries ran for two weeks starting June 10, 2026, and the R5 entry fee (about 30 cents) isn't refunded. On June 26, when the lottery results came out, two other routes opened: international tour operators and charity entries.
Both are first come, first served, so the later you wait, the fewer spots are left. On the tour side, the race lists Sports Tours International and Marathon Tours & Travel as official partners, with country-level branches handling sales. These are packages that bundle a guaranteed entry with accommodation, so luck doesn't come into it.
But remaining availability varies by operator. One Canadian agency had already posted a sold-out notice. Charity is only half open.
The race's charity page says the South African allocation is gone, while the international allocation shows "entries open" on the front page. The minimum fundraising amount appears nowhere on the official site. It varies by charity, so ask directly.
There's no qualifying standard; you need to be 18 on race day. The 2027 entry fee hasn't been announced yet. Either way, you won't get advance notice of a deadline.
If you've made up your mind to go, open the operator list first.
3Cape Town Marathon course: 42km through the eyes of a first-time full marathon runner
There are two start lines: Fritz Sonnenberg Road beside the stadium, and Beach Road at Mouille Point. Which one you line up on is set by the half marathon and marathon personal bests you submitted at registration, plus your past results at this race. She started on Beach Road.
She filmed a pink-and-red sunrise and didn't listen to music. Adrenaline, she said, meant that at first she couldn't slow down even when she tried. Lay her splits over the points named in the 2026 spectator guide and the official course landmark map, and it looks like this.
· 6.5km — N2 highway exit · 9.7km — Groote Schuur Hospital, where the world's first heart transplant took place in 1967 · 15–17km — Rondebosch Park; passing 17km, she was on a runner's high · 20–22km — Rondebosch Common; from mile 13, ambulances start showing up roadside · 26.7km — Salt River Circle · 27–29km — Albert Road in Woodstock; Old Biscuit Mill at 27km · Around 30km — past City Hall and St George's Cathedral into the city center · 30.7–32.1km — Company's Garden, the longest, steepest climb, and what she called her hardest mile · 32.1–34.2km — along Long Street to Green Point Main Road · 36.3–41.4km — out and back on the Sea Point promenade; the Mouille Point lighthouse at 39km (first lit in 1824, it's the oldest lighthouse still in use in South Africa) · Finish — Vlei Road, Green Point All along the course, she remembers dancers, drummers and people cheering. It recalls what a speaker at a Runna team event the day before had said: running in South Africa is "a completely different experience than... in the US and in Europe."
From mile 13, she saw other scenes too. Ambulances came and went, and more runners slumped against the barriers with their heads down. She did her best to look away.
It was the first time she'd watched people doing the same thing she was doing and not make it. At the mile 20 aid station, past the climb, she stopped for the first time. She poured three cups of water over her head and set off again.
From mile 21 it was downhill, she thinks. Her splits show a 9:13 mile after that.
4The 3:50 p.m. Cutoff Matters More Than Your Start Time
The 6-hour-30-minute cutoff isn't counted from the gun. According to race guidance, the clock starts when the very last runner crosses the start mat. That means there's a single time when the finish closes, and in 2026 it was 3:50 p.
m. Here's how the 2026 waves went out. · 7:50 a.
m.—Wheelchair, stadium start · 8 a.m.
—Elite, stadium start · 8:05 a.m.—World age-group championship group, Beach start · 8:10 a.
m.—Yellow waves A–D, stadium start · 8:27 a.m.
—Blue waves E and F, Beach start · 9:06 a.m.—Final wave With a single finish cutoff, each wave inevitably gets a different amount of time.
In 2026, a yellow-wave runner had about 7 hours 40 minutes until 3:50 p.m. Someone in the final wave had about 6 hours 44 minutes.
There are cutoffs along the course too, so don't relax yet. In 2026, the race published its cutoff table only as an image, and it's hard to find an official document with the times written out. The FAQ says the 2027 start times will also be announced closer to race day.
When you get your wave, put your start time next to the cutoff table. That's where you'll find out what time you need to be over the Company's Garden climb.
5Expo inside the stadium, shuttles from 5:30 a.m.
You pick up your bib at DHL Stadium, right next to the start line. The 2027 expo schedule is already out. · Thursday, May 20: 9 a.
m.–7 p.m.
· Friday, May 21: 9 a.m.–7:30 p.
m. · Saturday, May 22: 9 a.m.
–4 p.m. All you need is your phone.
You show the QR code from the confirmation you received by email or WhatsApp, and there's no race-day pickup. In 2026, Saturday was open to marathon runners only. The rules on collecting someone else's bib, though, depend on how you entered.
The official race guidance for 2026 allowed pickup with another runner's confirmation message, but the 2027 registration guidance for the official travel program says only the runner can collect. If you're going through a tour operator, plan on picking it up yourself. Shuttles run to the start on race morning.
In 2026, free shuttles from the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) and the Civic Centre took runners to the start from 5:30 to 6:45 a.m. Paid R10 shuttles ran from the University of Cape Town and Canal Walk.
The V&A Waterfront shuttle didn't go to the start on Sunday morning. On Saturday, the day before, the 5K and 10K Peace Runs and the trail races are held separately. MyCiTi city buses have routes cut on Saturday and Sunday because of road closures.
If you're parking at the Waterfront, get into the start area before 7:30 a.m. That's when the Beach Road and Portswood Road crossings close.
6Cape Town in May: late-fall temperatures and the heat at 30km
Cape Town's average temperature in May is 16.5°C (about 62°F). It's the Southern Hemisphere, so late fall is setting in. On paper, that's good running weather.
But what the runner remembers is the heat. Around 30km, it was so hot that she poured water over her head at every aid station, and on the stretches where the sun hit her in the face, sunglasses helped, she said. Wind is this race's long-standing wild card.
The October 2025 race was canceled a few hours before the start because of gale-force winds at dawn. The May race, though, has been held only once. At 13 of the 15 aid stations, water, Coke, Coke Zero and sports drinks are all on the table.
There was a lot of Coke on the course, and a companion who has run plenty of marathons apparently told her that's rare. She wouldn't recommend it, though, since it can bring on cramps. Pack a throwaway layer for the wait before the start, and a cap and sunglasses for the race itself.
If you're in a later wave, you'll reach the Sea Point waterfront closer to midday.
7The "Loop of Death": The Sea Point Out-and-Back, Facing the Finish
Late in the race, the course passes Green Point and turns onto the Sea Point promenade, just past 36km. Vlei Road, where the finish line sits, is right next to you, but you still have to run along the sea to the turnaround and back. On the other side, runners who've already made the turn are heading for the finish.
A spectator at the roadside called out to her: "Don't listen to them. Don't look at them. Like, don't worry about them.
You about to be there real soon." She wasn't sure what that meant. Then someone called this stretch "the loop of death."
The name lodged in her head. From mile 23 to mile 26, she said, she was the most miserable person in the world. Her vest bothered her, and so did the crowds.
Her watch hit 26 miles, and the finish was still a long way off. Her goal before the start was 4:05. Her watch showed 4:05; her bib time was 4:08.
Only after the finish did she learn that running wide to get around people had added distance. When you hit this loop, don't look across at the other side, and follow the inside line. What broke her wasn't the distance so much as the stream of runners coming the other way, and the loop's name.
After the finish, this is what she said: "I just cannot believe that I'm a marathoner and I just want to know when's the next one."
Editor's pick
Cape Town suits runners who want to add another Major star on a continent they've never visited. There's only one first edition as a Major, and the roadside comes with drums and dancing. That runner's result shows the trap on this course.
She hit her 4:05 goal on her watch but missed it by three minutes on her bib time. Running wide cost her more than the aid station where she stopped. Lock in a first-come spot first, and on the day you get your wave, work out when you'll pass Company's Garden.
What to do at Sea Point, the spectator on the course that day and the runner herself have already told you: don't look across at the other side, and hold the inside line.
The next dates to watch are the 2027 wave start times, which the race will announce closer to race day, and the results of the December 2026 Shanghai evaluation. On the race page, you can see the course map alongside places to stay around Green Point.
Our complete guide to the eight Majors continues with Sydney.
Entry period · Accommodation
| Races | Itinerary | Entry period | INFO. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cape Town Marathon | Sun, May 23, 2027 | Wed, June 10, 2026 ~ Wed, June 24, 2026 | Accommodation · See race details |
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