The 2023 Sanlam Cape Town Marathon was won by Ethiopians Adane Kebede Gebre and Tsige Haileslase Abreha on Sunday (15 October).
Windstill conditions on the start line, alongside the DHL Cape Town Stadium in Green Point, belied the gusty nature of the wind on the rest of the course. This slowed the elite men significantly as Gebre could only manage 2 hours, 11 minutes and 28 seconds.
In the women’s race Haileslase Abreha came close to the course record, but had to settle for the Olympic Qualifying mark by running home in 2 hours, 24 minutes and 17 seconds.
The 42.2 km long marathon course snaked through the Mother City, heading south east through Woodstock, Rosebank, Rondebosch and Newlands. Turning back towards the central business district the route returned via Mowbray, Observatory, Salt River and Gardens. In the final 10 kilometres the race passed within 100 metres of the finish line, looping to the far end of Sea Point and came home along Beach Road and Helen Suzman Boulevard.
After the relatively sheltered run along the hotel and high-rise apartment lined Beach Road the unprotected expanse of the final boulevard made the final kilometre exceptionally challenging.
wheelchair race
Along with the elite men’s and women’s race the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon also hosted the second edition of the elite wheelchair race. The men’s event was dominated by the Netherland’s Geert Schipper. Schipper broke away from Michael McCabe and Sean Frame within the first 5 kilometres and soloed to a commanding victory, by over 10 minutes.
Eden Rainbow-Cooper, of Great Britan, was nearly as dominant in the women’s wheelchair race winning by 5 minutes. She, Australian Christie Dawes and Brazilian Vanessa Cristina De Souza all commented on the difficulty of racing in the wind. The top three women nevertheless managed to dip below the 2-hour mark and illustrate what might be possible on this course, on a less windy day.
