Mohamed Esa of Ethiopia won the 2026 Sanlam Cape Town Marathon in a course record 2:04:55, which is also the fastest time ever run on African soil. (Photo: Fahwaaz Cornelius) Last year, severe weather forced the cancellation of the Cape Town Marathon. But in a dramatic turnaround, after the race was moved from its traditional October slot to May, runners were greeted by near-perfect conditions on Sunday, 24 May, with sunshine and little wind paving the way for record-breaking performances.
Ethiopia’s Mohamed Esa sped to victory in 2:04:55, obliterating the previous course record of 2:08:16 set by his compatriot Abdisa Tola in 2024. The conditions were so favourable that the top 10 men all crossed the finish line inside the previous course record.
Esa’s time was also the fastest marathon ever run on the African continent, beating the 2:06:32 run by Hicham Laqouahi in Morocco in 2020.
“First of all, I would like to say thank you very much to the race organisers,” said Esa. “They gave me a chance to come here and to run in my homeland, and it was very special for me to break the course record in my homeland. I’m very happy to run in Africa; the course was nice, and the support was great.”
The last few kilometres of the race saw a sprint between another Ethiopian, Yihunilign Adane, and Esa, with Adane finishing just four seconds behind Esa to take second place.
Completing the top three was Kalipus Lomwai from Kenya with a time of 2:05:06, smashing his personal best from 2018 by eight minutes.
/file/attachments/2992/Image3-FahwaazCornelius_279067.jpg "The top three men in the 2026 Sanlam Cape Town Marathon (from left): Yihunilign Adane of Ethiopia (second), Mohamed Esa of Ethiopia (winner) and Kalipus Lomwai of Kenya (third). (Photo: Fahwaaz Cornelius)")
The much-anticipated appearance of marathon great Eliud Kipchoge drew huge attention, although the Kenyan legend finished 16th.
Kipchoge was dropped by the elite men’s group early on, under the relentless pace set by South Africa’s Adriaan Wildschutt, who was an official pace runner.
Esa made a point of waiting by the finish line to welcome and congratulate Kipchoge as he crossed the finish line.
“Eliud is my role model, and I love and respect him so much,” said Esa. “I was very happy to welcome him and say well done on the race, and I was very proud to race with him in Africa. We finished together to show the world we are the same family.”
Women’s race
In the women’s race, Ethiopia’s Dera Dida claimed victory in 2:23:18 after making a decisive late break from the lead pack. While she fell short of Glenrose Xaba’s 2024 course record of 2:22:22, Dida spotlighted her calibre as a marathon runner following runner-up finishes at the 2025 Paris and Berlin marathons.
“The competition was very fantastic,” said Dida. “It was very special for me because I won this race in my homeland in Africa, so it makes it very special for me to win this race today.
“My aim was to break the course record, but today was not my day to break it. Next time, with good preparation, I will come back, and I will do it.”
It was an Ethiopian top three in the women’s race, with Mestawut Fikir (2:23:46) finishing second and Waganesh Amare (2:23:57) finishing third.
The group of elite women ran most of the race together, but Dida picked up the pace in the last three kilometres, and Fikir could not keep up.
“Around 36km was when I was confident that this race was mine, that I was going to win, so I was racing like it was my race to win,” said Dida.
/file/attachments/2992/Image2FahwaazCornelius_366121.jpg "Ethiopia's Dera Dida Yami claimed victory in the elite women's race of the 2026 Cape Town Marathon on 24 May with a commanding 2:23:18. (Photo: Fahwaaz Cornelius)")
World Major status loading
The event’s resounding success is a massive boost for its bid to join the Abbott World Marathon Majors. Currently holding candidate status, the Cape Town Marathon is vying to become the first race on the African continent to enter the elite club. The prestigious global circuit currently spans seven cities — New York, London, Berlin, Tokyo, Boston, Chicago, and Sydney — leaving Africa as the only continent without a Major.
Last year’s cancellation dealt a major blow to the race, disrupting its second consecutive evaluation phase.
Wheelchair races
Both the men’s and women’s wheelchair marathon records were also broken in Sunday’s race.
David Weir of Great Britain produced a dominant performance to win the men’s wheelchair race in a record 1:30:20, ahead of the Netherlands’ Jetze Plat (1:33:12) and Japan’s Sho Watanabe (1:33:43).
In the women’s wheelchair race, the record now belongs to Switzerland’s Manuela Schär. She dominated the race to win in 1:43:25, obliterating the previous course record of 1:52:58, set by Eden Rainbow-Cooper of Britain in 2023.
The Chinese pair of Chen Xiaochun (1:52:21) and Deng Yirun (1:57:05) completed the women’s wheelchair podium.
/file/attachments/2992/Image5-FahwaazCornelius_100573.jpg "The 2026 champions in the 10km Peace Run, Maxime Chaumeton and Tayla Kavanagh of South Africa. (Photo: Fahwaaz Cornelius)")
In the 10km Peace Run on Saturday, 23 May, South African athletes dominated the race, with Maxime Chaumeton and Tayla Kavanagh rewriting the record books.
Chaumeton, the South African 10km record-holder, clocked 27:41 to better the previous mark of 27:53 set by Wildschutt in 2023, which till now had been the only sub-28-minute time run in this event.
Kavanagh took the women’s title for the third consecutive year with a blistering 31:25, improving her personal best by eight seconds. DM