Cape Town Marathon cancellation: Tough decisions prioritising runner and spectator safety
Cape Town Marathon cancelled: more than 24 000 runners from around the world were left stunned on Sunday when the 2025 Sanlam Cape Town Marathon was cancelled just hours before its start due to severe overnight winds.
Image: Armand Hough/Independent Newspapers
Hout Bay Harriers running club has commiserated with the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon organisers, who made the tough decision to cancel the 42km event on Sunday, October 19.
Vice chairman Graham Botha told Sentinel News that they had to cancel their Chapman's Peak half-marathon and 10km, starting at Hout Bay Beach, which was scheduled for September 10, 2023.
"We had to cancel our race two years ago, a few hours before the start, so we have firsthand experience of this predicament," he said.
In their case, two years ago, the decision was taken by the provincial authorities, and they had to manage the fallout.
"But we never doubted their judgment at the time. In the case of the Cape Town Marathon the decision was made by all stakeholders, so we have no reason to challenge it," said Mr Botha.
"We have since successfully hosted 2024 and 2025," he said.
Mr Botha said that the authorities notified them of road closures at 10pm, the night before the race.
"We notified runners of cancellation but quite a number didn't see our message and arrived in Hout Bay early the next morning," he said.
The rain and wind were severe the night before but eased by morning.
"It was a bit different from the CT marathon in that there was still a big danger of rockfalls," said Mr Botha.
On Sunday, after emergency meetings between the race organising team and the Joint Operations Committee (JOC), including representatives from the City of Cape Town’s Disaster Risk Management and Safety and Security portfolios, as well as medical services and the South African Police Services, the race was cancelled at 4.45 am, 90 minutes before the scheduled 6.15am start time.
Organisers said: “Both the route start and finish venue were deemed unsafe for runners and spectators, and the difficult decision was taken to ensure the safety of everybody at the event.”
They added that after the cancellation of the marathon due to infrastructure and route damage caused by dangerously high winds, title sponsor Sanlam announced that it would be offering every 2025 marathon entrant a sponsored entry for either May 2026 or 2027.
This offer will be extended to all 2025 marathon entrants, regardless of whether the race succeeds in its bid to become Africa’s first Abbott World Marathon Majors event.
Sanlam Group CEO, Paul Hanratty, said: “When faced with adversity, Africans unite. We find a way to create opportunity out of adversity, in spite of all obstacles and challenges.
“We remain confident that the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon is on course to become an Abbott World Marathon Majors race.“Following the disappointment felt by the marathon runners today, we feel that we need to support all of those who were not able to take part in the race.”
After the news of the cancellation first broke, runners had mixed emotions as they understood the safety reasons for it, but they could not help feeling the sting of disappointment.