The Mother City is in for a financial boon with the recent announcement that next year’s Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon, powered by BYD, will boast an extra 11 000 runners across both the half marathon and the signature ultra race.
This is a massive turnaround from the low depths the popular race plunged just a year ago when they were at loggerheads with the City of Cape Town after allowing more runners than had been agreed on to participate.
Enter a new board as well as staging partner in the form of renowned Stillwater Sports and matters have taken a positive turn.
The World’s Most Beautiful Marathon will now allow for 21 000 runners for the half marathon compared to this year’s 17 000, while the 56km will see a 7 000 runners increase from the 14 000 that registered in 2026.
Chris Goldschmidt, chairperson of the Two Oceans Marathon NPC, says the increase comes in the wake of their having satisfied the city that they are capable of handling such big numbers.
“The biggest restriction on numbers has always been the design at UCT. That field has a limited number of exits and the safety of people was an issue and the city is not happy if they see crowds of people and nobody can move anywhere. So, one of the biggest successes of 2026 was the redesign of the finish layout which flowed, meaning we didn’t have to have a bridge and we made use of the UCT A field in a controlled way. We spread people around and generally got the space back.”
He explained that the decision to increase the numbers was due to the high demand they received for the 2026 ballot. “We received about 60 000 applications for 2026 and I think for 2027 it’s going to be even bigger.”
To handle the numbers, Goldschmidt says they will again go the route of having more yet smaller start batches.
“That way we spread the field out into a much longer, thinner line and again safety was the paramount word and we proved that we can have a less congested route. That was again a point to prove to the city and I think we’ll follow a very similar process for 2027 in terms of lots of smaller batches, spread everybody out, everybody gets across the start line in the shortest possible time and has the least obstruction on the route.
“So we’re very comfortable that 21 000 is not an unrealistic figure and I don’t think it’s going to detract from anybody’s race experience. And then the ultra obviously spreads out even more because of the longer distance. So, if we can handle 21 000 on the half then the ultra might as well be the same number and that’s really what we’ve gone for.”
Goldschmidt says they expect that many of those who will apply for the ballot will be successful. He is not worried that runners will opt to rather run the new Abbotts Major Cape Town Marathon.
“Well, the thing about the Cape Town Marathon is that it’s sold out already and it is predominantly foreigners. So, I think we’re going to find that there is a demand from the local athletes and even if they’re running Comrades, the gap between Oceans and Comrades is big enough. You can run both if you just take Oceans reasonably easy. You can do it as a long training run for Comrades and so I don’t think it’s going to have a negative impact on us.
He called Stillwater Sports a game changer. “So when we took over the board in late 2025, we were sort of pushed towards the change that we made.
“Having been on the board now for nearly a year, there’s absolutely no way that part-time people can manage an event of this complexity. And Stillwater’s got all the know-how, the people involved are top of their game.
“We’ve got the best in safety, operations, and marketing. Stillwater’s involvement has transformed the race back to the levels that we know it can be.”
- The upcoming Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon in Cape Town will see a significant increase in participants next year.
- An additional 11,000 runners will take part across the half marathon and the ultra marathon events.
- The marathon event is powered by BYD, highlighting a notable sponsorship.
- This influx of runners is expected to bring substantial financial benefits to Cape Town, known as the Mother City.
- Full details of the story are available through the Sunday World e-edition.
Enter a new board as well as staging partner in the form of renowned Stillwater Sports and matters have taken a positive turn.
Chris Goldschmidt, chairperson of the Two Oceans
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He explained that the decision to increase the numbers was due to the high demand they received for the 2026 ballot. “We received about 60 000 applications for 2026 and I think for 2027 it’s going to be even bigger.”
To handle the numbers, Goldschmidt says they will again go the route of having more yet smaller start batches.
“
“So we’re very comfortable that 21 000 is not an unrealistic figure and I don’t think it’s going to detract from anybody’s race experience.
Goldschmidt says they expect that many of those who will apply for the ballot will be successful. He is not worried that runners will opt to rather run the new Abbotts Major Cape Town
“Well, the thing about the Cape Town
He called Stillwater Sports a game changer. “So when we took over the board in late 2025, we were sort of pushed towards the change that we made.
“
“We’ve got the best in safety, operations, and marketing. Stillwater’s involvement has transformed the race back to the levels that we know it can be.”
