Yes! This was the resounding sound throughout Cape Town when it was announced that Sanlam has offered 2025 Sanlam Cape Town Marathon entrants a sponsored entry for either May 2026 or 2027.
This follows disappointment at the cancellation of the 2025 Sanlam Cape Town Marathon on Sunday morning due to infrastructure and route damage caused by dangerously high winds.
Title sponsor Sanlam extended the offer to all 2025 marathon entrants, regardless of whether the race succeeds in its bid to become Africa’s first Abbott World Marathon Majors event.
The announcement that the entries would not roll over were met with disappointment and anger even though entrants knew they signed a non-refundable document.
Now entrants say the offer has been done in the right spirit of the marathon.
“When faced with adversity, Africans unite. We find a way to create opportunity out of adversity, in spite of all obstacles and challenges,” says the Sanlam Group CEO, Paul Hanratty.
“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.”
The race was cancelled at 4.45am, an hour and a half before the scheduled 6.15am start time, after emergency meetings between the race organising team and the Joint Operations Committee (JOC), which consists of 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.
Both the route and start/finish venue were deemed unsafe for runners and spectators, and the difficult decision was taken to ensure the safety of everybody at the event.
All 2025 marathon entrants will be eligible for a sponsored entry for the for 2026 or 2027 event. The specifics of this offer, and the entry process that 2025 entrants need to follow, will be announced in due course.
Sanlam has been the title sponsor of the event since 2014 and has played a leading role in the marathon’s rapid growth, while also supporting the event’s candidacy process to become an Abbott World Marathon Majors race.
Successfully passing this candidacy assessment would see the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon join the New York, Boston, Berlin, Chicago, Tokyo, Sydney and London Marathons in the Majors.
In reaction to Sanlam’s generous offer, CEO of the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon, Clark Gardner, said: “We have been amazed by the support and understanding from our entrants, sponsors and community after the very difficult decision to cancel our event.
“This incredibly generous offer from Sanlam exemplifies their commitment to our event, even in our lowest moment. Now we will do our part to ensure the 2025 entrants return to our start line, andenjoy a world class marathon on African soil.”
“We once again apologise to all the disappointed entrants of today’s marathon, and will be making contact with all of them soon with more information about the sponsored entries for the 2026 or 2027 editions of the marathon,” said Gardner.
The Sanlam Cape Town Marathon team asks runners to please be patient while the details of the sponsored entry process are finalised. The 2026 Sanlam Cape Town Marathon will take place on the 24th of May 2026.
