Upcoming Cape Town Marathon Gets Global Recognition

The Sanlam Cape Town Marathon, taking place this weekend, has become the first run in Africa, and the 22nd worldwide, to receive silver-label status from the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).

The marathon, which happens on 20 September, has also been declared carbon neutral.

To receive the silver status a race has to, among other things, have international runners running faster times than the IAAF’s guidelines; the route should be closed to motorised traffic; and the race has to use full electronic timing to generate the results.

The race, which is a fund-raising event for four charities supported by Sanlam and was relaunched last year, is now one of 22 races around the world with silver status. In 2014, five of the first six to cross the finish line were from Ethiopia, being led by Meseret Biru.

Referring to the sustainability aspect of the race, Olympic gold medalist Elana Meyer said, “the marathon endeavours to benchmark itself against leading international city marathons in order to pioneer and be seen as leaders in sustainability initiatives”. The marathon has special Chuck Zones for runners to discard items such as water bottles and energy gel packs, and encourages runners to be mindful of not littering.

Watch runners taking the gorgeous Cape Town route:

The route for the run has been designed to offer runners a view of Cape Town’s natural and cultural attractions, according to the marathon website.  These include the Royal Cape Yacht Club, the Liesbeek River, the president’s residence Groote Schuur, District Six and St. George’s Cathedral. (See map below.)

“We want this to be the must-run marathon in Africa,” according to Janet Welham, a member of the race’s executive committee. “We want it to become Africa’s largest running event and one of the biggest fundraising sporting events in South Africa.”

Partly sourced from MediaClubSouthAfrica