The Two Oceans Marathon is a

ultramarathon An ultramarathon is a footrace longer than the traditional marathon distance of . The sport of running ultramarathons is called ultra running or ultra distance running. Various distances, surfaces, and formats are raced competitively, from the ...

and half-marathon held annually in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

, South Africa with the ultramarathon held on a Saturday in April and the half marathon held the next day on the Sunday. It was previously held on Easter weekend. Described as "the world's most beautiful marathon", the race is run against a backdrop of spectacular scenery through the

Cape Peninsula The Cape Peninsula () of South Africa is a generally mountainous peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean at the south-western extremity of the African continent. At the southern end of the peninsula are Cape Point and the Cape of Good ...

. Both races start in

Newlands Newlands may refer to: Places Australia * Newlands, Queensland, a locality in the Whitsunday Region * Newlands, Western Australia, a town in the Shire of Donnybrook–Balingup Ireland * Newlands Cross, Dublin, named after the former Newlands ...

. The Ultra Marathon follows a more or less circular route through

Muizenberg Muizenberg ( , Dutch for 'mice mountain') is a beach-side town in the Western Cape, South Africa. It is situated where the shore of the Cape Peninsula curves round to the east on the False Bay coast. It is considered to be the main surfing spo ...

Fish Hoek Fish Hoek (, meaning either Fish Corner or Fish Glen) is a coastal suburb of Cape Town at the eastern end of the Fish Hoek Valley on the False Bay side of the Cape Peninsula in the Western Cape, South Africa. Previously a separate municipality, Fi ...

, over

Chapman's Peak Chapman's Peak is a mountain on the western side of the Cape Peninsula, between Hout Bay and Noordhoek in Cape Town, South Africa. The western flank of the mountain falls sharply for hundreds of metres into the Atlantic Ocean, and a road, kno ...

, through

Hout Bay Hout Bay (, meaning "Wood Bay") is a seaside suburb of Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is situated in a valley on the Atlantic seaboard of the Cape Peninsula, twenty kilometres south of the Central business district of ...

and Constantia Nek, and eventually finishes at the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...

campus. On occasions when Chapman's Peak Drive has been closed due to construction or rock falls, the Ultra Marathon has followed an alternative route over

Ou Kaapse Weg Ou Kaapse Weg (Afrikaans for ''Old Cape Way''), numbered as route M64, is a mountain pass in the Cape Peninsula that connects the Southern Suburbs, Cape Town, Southern Suburbs of Cape Town with the Fish Hoek Valley. It traverses the Steenberg M ...

. The Half Marathon takes runners along Edinburgh Drive (the M3 highway), before turning into forest roads past Kirstenbosch and finishing at the

campus. Since its inaugural edition in 1970, the event has grown. Selling out every year, the Half Marathon sees some 16,000 participants (making it the biggest half marathon in South Africa), while 11,000 athletes tackle the 56 km Ultra Marathon. In addition to the main events, other events take place: *Approximately 6 000 runners - including toddlers and young children with their families - take part in various

fun run A fun run is a friendly race that involves either road running or cross country running with participants taking part for their own enjoyment rather than competition. A fun run will usually be held to raise funds for a charity, with sponsors prov ...

s *Approximately 1 000 trail runners traverse the trails of the

Table Mountain National Park Table Mountain National Park, previously known as the Cape Peninsula National Park, is a national park in Cape Town, South Africa, proclaimed on 29 May 1998, for the purpose of protecting the natural environment of the Table Mountain chain, and ...

*International participants get to run a scenic 5 km route along the Sea Point promenade as part of the International Friendship Run The 2020 and 2021 editions of the race were cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Winners

Men

Key:

Women

Key:

Half Marathon

Key:

References

External links

Official web page
ARRS. Retrieved on 2016-10-13.
Two Oceans 21 km
ARRS. Retrieved on 2016-10-13. {{Cape Town, sports Ultramarathons in South Africa Half marathons in South Africa Recurring sporting events established in 1970 Marathons in South Africa Athletics competitions in South Africa Autumn in South Africa Sports competitions in Cape Town