(Cape Town, 28 July 2022) – 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 the perfect balance between meeting the Abbott World Marathon Majors’ route requirements and minimising the traffic impact on the City and affected areas on Race Day.
“This is an important milestone and one of the major hurdles we had to cross,” says an elated Clark Gardner, Group CEO 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 Sanlam Cape Town Marathon race route will see the following adjustments:
- The start and finish move 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 start 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 thrilling 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, however, that they will still get to enjoy all the beauty, views and vibe that has become synonymous with the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon,” adds Gardner. “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.”
JP Smith, Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security notes, “The City of Cape Town is pleased to continue its partnership with the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon and we are 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.”
“A huge congratulations to the incredible team of organisers and behind the scenes crew who have made this year’s event possible,” says Mariska Oosthuizen, Sanlam Head of Brand.
“This year’s race is dedicated to celebrating everything that can be achieved when we work together.
“When Sanlam started this sponsorship eight years ago, we knew we were working towards major status. By uniting champions in all forms, this dream will be realised for our continent and its incredible people, and that is certainly something worth celebrating.
“This year’s theme ‘African Champions Unite’ is perfectly in synergy with Sanlam’s mission to be an African champion that fosters continent-wide financial inclusion. We want to empower generations of Africans to be financially confident, secure and prosperous. This race shines a spotlight on Africa and our people’s immense talent. It perfectly aligns with our goal to amplify confidence across the continent and to work together to achieve big things."
Continued focus on sustainability
In a continuation of the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon’s award-winning green event initiatives, the 2022 race will be sachet-free. Water, Coca-Cola and Powerade will be dispensed into cups – which will also be recycled separately – while athletes who prefer to run with hydration packs, bottles or cups will have refill facilities available along the route.
The Sanlam Cape Town Marathon was one of the first sporting events – and the second Sanlam-sponsored event – to be declared carbon neutral in South Africa in 2014 after Sanlam engaged with the JSE to pilot a carbon offset trading project. Over the years, the event also spear-headed various other green event initiatives, ranging from event waste recycling to supporting SA charities that focus on sustainable environmental interventions, and promoting the “carry-your-own” initiative by having water refill stations in place for participants who want to run waste-free.
Technical sponsor adidas has been on a sustainability journey for the past two decades. Commenting on the company’s sustainability ambition, Kate Woods, Senior Brand Director at adidas South Africa said, “Our goal is to become a more sustainable company, and we have a clear roadmap to achieve climate neutrality across our entire value chain by 2050.”
One of the company’s core commitments is to end plastic waste, and this was a consideration when creating the running range for the Cape Town Marathon. The official race t-shirt is made using recycled materials as is the Cape Town Marathon jacket (currently available for pre-order), as well as many of the running footwear and accessories that will be available at the Expo.
Elaborating on what to expect from the adidas stand at the Expo, Woods said, “We’re leaning on our experience of having opened Africa’s most sustainable adidas store at the V&A Waterfront in 2021, and have approached the design of our expo stand with a similar mindset. In addition to the design and build of the stand, an important consideration is how the various elements can be repurposed after the event. Runners can look forward to a one-stop shop where they can meet their running heroes, get access to leading industry advice and find the best in road and trail running gear, all with less impact on the environment.”
The Sanlam Cape Town Marathon is Africa’s only World Athletics Gold Label Status event. This is 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.
The Sanlam Cape Town Marathon’s Race Week will start with the opening of the event’s Expo and Registration at DHL Stadium in Green Point on 13 October. The 5km and 10km Peace Runs will both take place on Saturday, 15 October, joining the 22km Trail Run and 46km Trail Marathon for an action-packed day. Race Week will culminate with the marathon on 16 October. Visit www.capetownmarathon.com for more information and to enter the 2022 event.