Online Reporter
ISAAC Mpofu and Fortunate Chidzivo are part of a star-studded 2026 Sanlam Cape Town Marathon, set for Sunday, which has its eepest and fastest elite field in the event’s 15-year history.
Mpofu is a veteran marathon athlete who has participated at the World Championships and the Olympics.
His best performance was finishing 10th at the World Athletics Championships in 2022.
Chidzivo is also a veteran marathon runner and has represented the country at the World Athletics Championships.
The headline act is the greatest marathon runner of all-time, Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya.
Added to this, there is a prize purse of nearly R5 million, an increase of 37 percent. When all the record incentives are added, the total prize purse on offer amounts to a massive R6.6 million.
The men’s field includes 14 athletes with a career best under 2:08, three of whom have broken 2:05.
The women’s field boasts nine athletes who have gone under 2:22, meaning both course records are firmly under threat on race day.
The best times to date in the event were both posted in the 2024 edition.
Ethiopian Abdisa Tola won the men’s race in 2:08:16, while South Africa’s Glenrose Xaba set both the women’s course record and a new SA Record when she crossed the line in 2:22:22.
The 2026 race will see more than 27,000 marathon runners lining up, with many not just chasing fast times on the super-fast course but also incentivised to earn an Abbott World Marathon Majors (AbbottWMM) finisher’s star.
The race is currently a candidate for AbbottWMM status, and the AbbottWMM team has announced that athletes who complete the 2026 edition of the Mother City race will be awarded provisional finisher’s stars, which will then be officially recognised if Cape Town achieves its second evaluation pass in 2026 and becomes Africa’s first Major.
“Africa does not often get the opportunity on the global stage to celebrate its excellence and being the best in the world,” said Clark Gardner, CEO of the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon.
“We understand the responsibility and privilege we, as the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon, now have with this opportunity, as we host 8500 international participants and their families from 102 countries, including 25 African countries, as well as 1800 of the world’s best age group marathon runners here for the Abbott World Marathon Majors MTT Age Group World Champs.”
On paper, he is the fastest man in the field, with a personal best of 2:01:09, which set a (then) World Record in 2022.
At 41, he is still posting world-class times, having clocked 2:05:25 in London last year, which still makes him one of the fastest runners in the field for Cape Town in terms of recent best times.
“It is truly special for me to run my first ever marathon on African soil. The Sanlam Cape Town Marathon represents not only a beautiful and dynamic race, but also a powerful connection to the continent that has shaped so many great athletes,” said Kipchoge. — Sports Reporter/SuperSport
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